Rape cases can be 'stopped' if parents teach daughters to behave 'decently': BJP MLA

BJP MLA Surendra Singh on Saturday said that rape cases can be "stopped" if parents teach their daughters to behave "decently".

"Yeh ghatnaye keval sanskaar se ruk sakti hain, shashan aur talwar se rukne wala nahin hain. Sabhi mata-pita ka dharm hai ki woh apni jawan aur yuvti beti ko ek sanskari vaatavaran mein shaalin vyavhaar karne ka tareeka sikhana chahiye. (Such incidents can only be stopped by good values, and not by governance or sword. It is every parent's dharma to raise their young daughters in a cultured environment and teach them to behave decently.)," said the Ballia MLA when asked to comment on the Hathras gang-rape case.

"If it is the government's dharma to provide protection, it is the family's dharma to teach good values to their children. It is only the combination of government and good values that can make the country beautiful," he said (roughly translated from Hindi).

The 19-year-old Hathras woman died at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital on September 29, a fortnight after allegedly being gang-raped. All the four accused in the incident have been arrested.

The government has formed a three-member Special Investigation Team to probe the case and said that the matter will be heard in the fast track court.