The BJP legislator also said that children should not be given undue freedom and asked parents not to give mobile phones to them.

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Parents, Mobiles Responsible For Incidents Of Rape, Says BJP Legislator Surendra Singh

Surendra Singh has been in news for making shocking statements in the past (File)

BALLIA, UP:  BJP legislator from Uttar Pradesh Surendra Singh has said that parents are responsible for the increasing incidents of rape and should not let their children roam around freely.  The legislator from Bairia in Ballia district, who had earlier made news when he said no one can rape a mother of three children, also advised parents not to give their children mobile phones.

“The parents of youths are responsible for growing incidents of rape as they do not take care of their wards,” BJP MLA Surendra Singh told reporters here last night.

“Children up to 15 years of age should be kept under strict vigil. It is the duty of parents to take care of their wards. But they allow their wards to roam around freely. This is the main reason for the social evil,” he said.

Children should not be given undue freedom, he said, and asked parents not to give mobile phones to them.

The remarks come in the backdrop of outrage over the brutal gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, and the rape of a 17-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district allegedly by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar.

Defending Sengar, Surendra Singh had said, “I am speaking from a psychological point of view; no one can rape a mother of three children. It is not possible, this is a conspiracy against him (Sengar).”
Known for making contentious comments, he had also recently called West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee “Surpanakha”, the sister of demon king Ravana.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month directed his party’s lawmakers not to make “irresponsible” statements. His admonishment came a day after Union minister Santosh Gangwar was reported as saying in Bareilly that a “brouhaha” should not be created over one or two rape cases in a big country like India.

Last week he said“Mamata Banerjee is playing the role of Surpanakha. People are getting killed on streets and she being the Chief Minister is not doing anything about it, such leaders are not good. Hindus are not safe in Bengal. If nothing is done about it, Bengal will face situation like that in Jammu and Kashmir. Hindus will be ousted from Bengal just like it happened in Jammu and Kashmir,” Singh told reporters in Ballia.

In the same breath, the legislator accused the Congress of playing the role of Ravana.

Singh further alleged torture of Hindus by terrorists entering the TMC-ruled state from adjoining Bangladesh.

“Fortunately we have a leader like Modi Ji and we will oust all foreign elements from Bengal,” he added.

Singh is not new to controversies. Recently speaking in defence of BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar who has been accused of raping a minor girl in Unnao, Singh said that no one could rape a mother of three children.

After that, the lawmaker said 2019 Lok Sabha elections would be fought on the lines of “Islam versus Bhagwan” and “Pakistan versus India”.

In February, Singh said that people who do not chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai‘ are Pakistanis.

Earlier in January, the saffron party leader had said that India would become a Hindu nation by 2014 and once it becomes “Hindu Rashtra,” only those Muslims who assimilate into the Hindu culture will stay in the country.

On April 22, PM Modi asked party MLAs and MPs not to speak out of turn to the media on any issue.

The Prime Minister’s remark came in the backdrop of controversial statements being ma