Dec 16 rape victim's parents condemn Mulayam

The parents of the Dec 16 rape victim here Friday condemned the outrageous remarks of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on rapists, and urged people not to elect such a leader as he does not "honour" women.

In the remark that raised a storm, Mulayam Singh Thursday said the death penalty in rape cases was "unfair" as boys make "mistakes".

"Yadav failed to provide security to women in his governance. If he would have thought of providing security to women, he would have never given such kind of statement," the victim's father told IANS.

"He is talking nonsense," the father said about the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister's statement at an election rally in Moradabad, where Mulayam Singh said that if his party leads the central government, he would change the law.

"The main point is that he has no honour for women. I appeal to the public not to elect such kind of leaders. Specially, I appeal to the women not to vote for such leaders," said the father.

The mother of the Dec 16 rape victim also expressed her dissatisfaction over Mulayam Singh's statement.

"Despite being in the government, Yadav should not give such kind of statement," she told IANS.

"It is wrong, if he is saying all these things. Such people have no right to be in the governance," said the mother of the 23-year-old victim, who was brutally gang raped by six men in the national capital in a moving bus on Dec 16 night in 2012. She later died of her injuries in a Singapore hospital where she was airlifted for specialised treatment.

Four men have been awarded death sentences in the case, one committed suicide in jail and one was a juvenile who was separately tried and confined to a remand home for three years.