Parents responsible for incidents of rape, says UP BJP MLA

Wading into the debate on violence against women and minor girls once again, Uttar Pradesh's ruling BJP legislator Surendra Singh has said parents are responsible for the increasing incidents of rape and should not let their children roam around freely.

The legislator from Bairia in Ballia district, who had earlier made news when he said no one can rape a mother of three children, also advised parents not to give their children mobile phones.

"The parents of youths are responsible for growing incidents of rape as they do not take care of their wards," local BJP MLA Surendra Singh told reporters here last night.

"Children up to 15 years of age should be kept under strict vigil. It is the duty of parents to take care of their wards. But they allow their wards to roam around freely. This is the main reason for the social evil," he said.

Children should not be given undue freedom, he said, and asked parents not to give mobile phones to them.

The remarks come in the backdrop of outrage over the brutal gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, and the rape of a 17-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district, allegedly by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar.

Defending Sengar, Surendra Singh had 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 (Sengar)."