India’s top policeman Ranjit Sinha draws fire with rape remarks

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India’s top policeman Ranjit Sinha draws fire with rape remarks

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 13 November, 2013, 5:34pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 13 November, 2013, 5:34pm

Associated Press in New Delhi

Central Bureau of Investigation chief Ranjit Sinha. Photo: AP

India’s top police official was under fire on Wednesday for saying, “If you can’t prevent rape, you might as well enjoy it.”

Central Bureau of Investigation chief Ranjit Sinha made the comment on Tuesday during a conference about illegal sports betting and the need to legalise gambling. The CBI, the country’s premier investigative agency, is India’s equivalent of the FBI.

Sinha said that if the state could not stop gambling it could at least make some revenue by legalising it. His remarks about rape were in this context.

The remarks have caused outrage across India, which in the past year has been roiled by widespread protests following the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in New Delhi.

Sinha said on Wednesday that his comments were taken out of context and were misinterpreted, but angry activists called for his resignation.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat said Sinha’s comments were offensive to women everywhere.

“It is sickening that a man who is in charge of several rape investigations should use such an analogy,” Karat told reporters. “He should be prosecuted for degrading and insulting women.”

The New Delhi attack on the young woman last December caused nationwide outrage and forced the government to change rape laws and create fast-track courts for rape cases. New laws introduced after the attack make stalking, voyeurism and sexual harassment a crime. They also provide for the death penalty for repeat offenders or for rape attacks that lead to the victim’s death.

 

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India's top police officer forced to apologise for 'if you can’t prevent rape, you enjoy it' comment

• Ranjit Sinha, head of India's Central Bureau of Investigation, told to resign
  
• He made an analogy to rape while talking about India's gambling laws
  
• But his remarks caused outrage 11 months after fatal New Delhi gang rape
  

By DAN BLOOM PUBLISHED: 12:22 GMT, 13 November 2013 | UPDATED: 18:38 GMT, 13 November 2013
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India's top police official has apologised for making remarks in which he said: 'If you can't prevent rape, you enjoy it'.Ranjit Sinha, chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation which is India's equivalent of the FBI, provoked outrage less than a year after the fatal gang-rape of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus.The police chief spoke yesterday during a panel discussion about illegal sports betting.

Ranjit Sinha of the Central Bureau of Investigation, which deals with cases including rape, murder, terrorism and corruption within government. Activists called for his resignation. He said the remarks were out of context

He told delegates that if the state was unable to stop gambling, it may as well make money by legalising and taxing it.'Do we have the enforcement?' he was reported to have said yesterday. 'It is very easy to say that if you can't enforce it, it's like saying if you can't prevent rape, you enjoy it.'

Mr Sinha, pictured with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was accused of trivialising rape

His remark was translated in a number of slightly different ways, including as: 'If you can't prevent rape, you might as well enjoy it.'The analogy provoked outrage among opposition politicans and women's groups who accused him of 'trivialising rape'.Brinda Kara, leader of the Communist Party of India, said: 'It is sickening that a man who is in charge of several rape investigations should use such an analogy. He should be prosecuted for degrading and insulting women.'Mr Sinha apologised today in a statement and said his comments had been taken out of context.

'I regret any hurt caused,' he said. 'I gave my opinion that betting should be legalised and that if the laws cannot be enforced, that does not mean that laws should not be made.'This is as erroneous as saying that if rape is inevitable one should lie back and enjoy it. I reiterate my deep sense of regard and respect for women and my commitment for gender issues.'But Kavita Krishnan, an activist with the All India Progressive Women's Association, called for Sinha to step down.

'How can he remain the head of India's premier investigation agency?' she said.Nirmala Sitharaman, spokeswoman for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, called the remarks 'shocking', adding on Twitter: 'Wonder if his colleagues in the Bureau, his family and well-wishers approve of his view.'There were protests across India after a 23-year-old woman was brutally and fatally gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi last December.

Four men were sentenced to death by hanging over the attack, with another one dying in custody before the trial. A sixth male, a juvenile, was sentenced to three years in a reform facility.

Pictured: Ranjit Sinha. The remarks come at a bad time for his organisation, the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is accused of being a tool to pressure political rivals and is having its legality challenged in court

The lawyer for Ram Singh, who was one of the six accused of the New Delhi gang rape, speaks to reporters in March after it emerged Singh died in custody. The fatal attack provoked national fury over rape laws

The New Delhi attack forced the government to change rape laws and create fast-track courts for rape cases.New laws introduced after the attack make stalking, voyeurism and sexual harassment a crime. They also provide for the death penalty for repeat offenders or for rape attacks that lead to the victim's death.There were more than 24,000 reported rapes in India in 2011, but activists say the real number is many times higher.The affair comes at a bad time for India's CBI, which has been accused of acting as a tool for the government to pressure political rivals. Its own legality is being challenged in court.

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India's Top Cop Under Fire for Rape Remark

Published on Nov 13, 2013

Central Bureau of Investigation chief Ranjit Sinha apologized for a controversial comment he made Wednesday at a conference for illegal gambling, saying, "If you can't prevent rape, you enjoy it," a remark that has outraged women across India.