UP minister’s shocker: Minor's rape is rape but married woman's rape is different

Amid the outrage over growing incidents of rape and assault against women in his state, Uttar Pradesh minister Upendra Tiwari has made a rather controversial remark, questioning the authenticity of such cases involving a married a woman. The Water Supply, Land Development and Water Resources minister in Yogi Adityanath Cabinet said that there is a “nature of rape” and a married woman's rape is different. A video of the BJP leader making the controversial statement has gone viral on social media.

“There is a nature of rape. Now if a minor is raped, it will be considered as rape. But at times we hear that a married woman in the age-group of 30-35 years too has been a victim of a similar incident...for 7-8 years there would be an affair, then complaint of rape comes...Such matters should have been raised then,” Tiwari is heard saying in the clip.

The minister also said that whenever an incident of rape takes place, the chief minister takes cognizance of the matter and assure strict action is taken against the guilty.

The remark of the BJP leader has come just days after the brutal gangrape of a 12-year-old girl from scheduled cast by six men in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district.

According to the police, the incident took place in a village in the Ahirouli Bazar police station area on Friday evening. Of the six men, four have been arrested, while efforts are on to nab the rest two.

“A case against six accused persons has been registered under various sections of IPC, including section 376 (rape), POCSO Act and SC/ST Act,” Superintendent of Police (SP) RN Mishra said.

According to reports, the accused had a dispute with the girl's family over the construction of drainage channel on Friday morning. In the evening, they dragged the girl in front of the family and raped her and also thrashed the family members when they resisted.

(With inputs from agencies)