‘ Hang women for sex outside wedlock’
TIRADE CONTINUES After Mulayam, SP leader Abu Azmi outrages all with ‘sexist’ remark, advocates death for rape victims
NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Maharashtra unit chief Abu Azmi left the nation in outrage on Friday, saying that women, including rape victims, who have sex outside marriage should be hanged.
Azmi’s comment came a day after the party top boss Mulayam Singh Yadav said it was unfair to award death penalty to rapists for their “mistakes”.
“Any woman if, whether married or unmarried, 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,” Azmi told a Mumbai tabloid Mid-day.
He was reacting to a query on a possible solution to the problem of rape.
“Rape is punishable by hanging in Islam. But here, nothing happens to women, only to men. Even the woman is guilty. Girls complain when someone touches them, and even when someone doesn’t touch them. It becomes a problem then... If rape happens with or without consent, it should be punished as prescribed in Islam,” he elaborated.
On Thursday, Mulayam had said that “handing death sentence for rape is not fair...boys make mistakes... there will be changes in the law if we come to power.”
Yadav, however, stuck to his stand on Friday that the new anti-rape law was “wrong” and should be amended so that those who are innocent are not framed.
Both Mulayam and Azmi’s comments drew sharp rebuke from political parties and women’s organisations besides individuals who took to social media sites to heap scorn on them.
Azmi’s daughter- i n- l aw, actor Ayesha Takia, said she was “deeply embarrassed and ashamed” by the statement.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) also sent a letter to the Election Commission to take cognisance of the matter (Mulayam’s statement) and to take action to curb such incidents in the future.
Member of the All-India Women Muslim Law Board Shaishta Ambar and Left parties slammed Mulayam’s for his comments on rape, demanding an apology from him.