SP`s Abu Azmi adds to Mulayam`s rape shocker, says girls should be hanged too

Zee Media Bureau/Deepak Nagpal

Mumbai/Lucknow: On Thursday, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav shocked everyone by defending rapists, saying they should not be hanged for committing a `mistake`. “Ladkon se aisi galtiyan ho jati hain, to iska matlab yeh to nahi ki unhe phaansi de di jaaye (Boys make mistakes, but this doesn’t mean you hang them),” Mulayam said at a rally in his home state Uttar Pradesh. On Friday, his party representative in Maharashtra, Abu Azmi, went a step further and said victims in rape cases should also be punished! Speaking to a leading Mumbai tabloid, Azmi said, “Rape is punishable by hanging in Islam. But here, nothing happens to women, only to men. Even the woman is guilty.” “In India, if you have sex with a person with consent, it’s fine. But if that same person complains, it’s a problem. Nowadays, we see a lot of such cases. Girls complain when someone touches them, and even when someone doesn’t touch them. It becomes a problem then, and the man’s honour is ruined in this. If rape happens with or without consent, it should be punished as prescribed in Islam,” the SP Maharashtra chief said further. “If any woman, whether married or unmarried, goes along with a man, with or without her consent, she should be hanged. Both should be hanged. It shouldn’t be allowed even if a woman goes by consent.” Both Mulayam and Azmi are facing flak for their controversial remarks. “If a senior politician like Mulayam Singh Yadav makes such comments then it`s worrying, it is sad,” said Delhi braveheart Nirbhaya`s father, adding that the safety of women is at stake because of leaders like him.