Unfortunate but can’t be stopped: BJP minister Santosh Gangwar on rapes

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New Delhi: Union minister Santosh Gangwar on Sunday said that one or two cases of rape in a big country like India should not be hyped. The member of BJP who is Minister of State for Labour and Employment was speaking to ANI when he stirred up the controversy.

“Aisi ghatnaye (rape cases) durbhagyapurn hoti hain,par kabhi kabhi roka nahi ja sakta hai.Sarkar sakriya hai sab jagah ,karyavahi kar rahi hai. Itne bade desh mein ek do ghatna ho jaye to baat ka batangad nahi banana chahiye (Such incidents are unfortunate, but can’t be stopped every time. Government is vigilant, it is doing the investigation. In a big country like India, one or two incidents of rape should not be hyped), Santosh Gangwar told ANI.

Gangwar’s statement has come hours after the central government passed an ordinance to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to grant death penalty for the rape of girls under the age of 12.

In an earlier instance, BJP MLA Surendra Singh from Uttar Pradesh had made headlines for his insensitive comments. Referring to Unnao rape case, he said: “I am speaking from a psychological point of view; no one can rape a mother of three children. It is not possible, this is a conspiracy against him (Kuldeep Singh Sengar).”

“Yes maybe her father was thrashed by some people but I refuse to believe rape charge,” he told ANI.

The country is witnessing an uproar of protests after an eight-year-old Kathua girl was brutally raped and murdered. She was found dead in the adjoining forest area in Kashmir.

On the other hand, a 17-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao was raped, where victim’s family alleged that the accused MLA’s brother, Atul Singh Sengar, along with his companions, had raped her and thrashed her father on April 3 for refusing to withdraw the FIR over the same.

The victim’s father died on April 9 due to multiple injuries while he was in police custody.