Women who have sex before marriage should be hanged, says senior politician in India's Socialist Party
Mulayam Singh Yadav, the head of India’s Socialist (Samajwadi) Party, said he would get rid of a recently introduced law that handed death sentences to repeat rape offenders, because it was not uncommon “for boys to make mistakes”.
Referring to a recent case from Mumbai in which three men were sentenced to death for carrying out two gang rapes, Mr Yadav told an election rally that rape happens because women lead men on.
"Boys will be boys. Following a girl-boy fight, the girl complains she was raped," he said.
“男生就是男生。男女吵架之后，女生就会抱怨她被强奸了。”
On Friday, Mr Yadav, whose son is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, appeared to row back on his comments.
周五，Yadav的儿子也就是北方邦的首席部长似乎也在支持他的言论。
"Many people said that my comments were right. I am against rape. Rapists should be given the most severe punishment," he said at another rally.
“许多人说我说的是对的。我反对强奸。强奸犯应该被给予最严厉的处罚。”他在另一场集会中说道。
"Innocent people should not be hanged. Rape is being debated in half the world. If I said this, it was wrong."
“无辜的人不应该被绞死、强奸在半个世界都是有争议性的话题。如果我这么说的话，那么就是错的。”
His original comments were echoed by the Socialist Party’s Maharashtra unit chief, Abu Azmi, who said that women who have sex outside marriage should be punished by death, even if they are raped.
“If rape happens with or without consent, it should be punished as prescribed in Islam”, Mr Azmi told the Mid-Day website.
“无论强奸是否是在同意的情况下发生的，它都应当被惩罚，就像伊斯兰教中规定的那样。”Azmi 说。
“The solution is this: any woman, whether married or unmarried, who goes along with a man, with or without her consent, should be hanged. Both should be hanged. It shouldn’t be allowed even if a woman goes by consent.”
Mr Azmi’s son Farhan, who is standing as a Socialist candidate in Mumbai, apologised for his father’s comments, according to The Independent.
独立报报道说，Azmi’的儿子孟买社会党候选人Farhan为他父亲的言论道歉。
"I believe a rapist should be hanged a hundred times," he said. "I have five sisters and everyone in my family believes the same."
“我相信强奸被绞死一百次都不为过。”他书，“我有五个姐姐，我家里的每个人都是这样认为的。”
The comments also drew condemnation from several other politicians.
这个言论同样也引起了好几位政治家的谴责。
Shobha Oza, a spokesman for the ruling Congress Party, said, "It is unfortunate that any leader makes such a statement regarding a crime like rape. Such statements encourage persons involved in such crimes."
The Bharatiya Janata Party (B J P), which is expected to win India’s ongoing elections, called Mr Yadav’s statement “insensitive and shameful”.
有望赢得印度现行选举的人民党也把这个言论称为是“冷血可耻的”。
Susieben Shah, chairperson of the Maharashtra Commission for Women, told the Indian Express that she had issued a notice for Mr Azmi to appear in person to explain his statement.
“His statement is deplorable, irresponsible and condemnable … When you are in a position of power, you are duty-bound to protect women?” she said. “I call upon all women to come out in large numbers like they did in Bastar, Vidarbha and Delhi to vote for a leader who protects women’s dignity.”
