India's top police official was under fire 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 Tuesday during a conference about illegal sports betting and the need to legalize 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 legalizing 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 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.
據(jù)美國廣播公司11月13日?qǐng)?bào)道,印度中央調(diào)查局(Central Bureau of Investigation)局長(zhǎng)蘭吉特•辛哈12日稱:“如果你無法阻止強(qiáng)奸的發(fā)生,不妨去享受它。”此言一出,便招致了全國上下的憤怒和譴責(zé)。
辛哈12日在出席一場(chǎng)有關(guān)“非法體育博彩和賭博合法化的必要性”的會(huì)議時(shí)說,如果不能阻止賭博,不如讓它合法化獲取稅收收入,就像說“如果無法阻止強(qiáng)奸的發(fā)生,不妨去享受它”。
印度共產(chǎn)黨領(lǐng)袖布林達(dá)•卡拉特(Brinda Karat)認(rèn)為,辛哈的言論冒犯了廣大女性。“作為一個(gè)負(fù)責(zé)調(diào)查數(shù)起強(qiáng)奸案的男子,使用這種比喻是令人惡心的。他應(yīng)該為貶低和侮辱女性受到起訴。”
辛哈13日辯稱,他的言論被斷章取義了,而且遭到了曲解。但是,憤怒的活動(dòng)人士要求他辭職。據(jù)了解,辛哈供職的印度中央調(diào)查局是印度的首要調(diào)查機(jī)構(gòu),類似于美國的聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局(FBI)。
去年12月16日晚,新德里發(fā)生一起惡性輪奸案,一名23歲的醫(yī)學(xué)院女大學(xué)生在私人巴士上慘遭6名印度男子輪奸和毒打,后被拋出車外。因傷勢(shì)過重,受害者人當(dāng)月29日在新加坡伊麗莎白醫(yī)院不治身亡。印度當(dāng)局此后出臺(tái)了新的相關(guān)法律,將跟蹤糾纏、窺陰癖和性騷擾定為一種罪行,對(duì)慣犯和強(qiáng)奸致死者判處死刑。