Babulal Gaur, the Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh and therefore the minister responsible for law and order in the state, speaking today on the subject of rape (Reuters):
"This is a social crime which depends on men and women. Sometimes it's right, sometimes it's wrong," said Gaur.The Hindustan Times reports essentially the same statement in a slightly different translation. Reuters again:
Gaur also expressed sympathy with Mulayam Singh Yadav, head of the regional Samajwadi Party. In the recent election, Mulayam criticised legal changes that foresee the death penalty for gang rape, saying: "Boys commit mistakes: Will they be hanged for rape?"Gaur is a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which has dismissed his comments as his personal views, not those of the party.
Gaur’s comments come in the wake of the gang-rape and hanging of 12- and 14-year-old cousins in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh just last week.