We ask daughters where they are going, must ask sons too: PM Modi on rape cases

New Delhi/London: Amid nationwide outrage over numerous rape cases that have surfaced recently, including the brutal gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said "rape is rape" and should not be politicised.

The Prime Minister, during the 'Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath' programme at the iconic Central Hall Westminster in downtown London, said, "We always ask our daughters about what they are doing, where they are going. We must ask our sons too."

The person who is committing these crimes is also someone's son, he said.

"I have never indulged in counting the number of rape incidents in this government and that government. Rape is rape, be it now or earlier. It is extremely sad. Don't politicise rape incidents," the Prime Minister said.

The rape of a daughter is a matter of shame for the country, he added.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been persistently attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government over the Kathua and Unnao rape cases. On Monday, Rahul Gandhi had pointed out on Twitter that there were as many as 19,675 cases of rapes of children in 2016.

The Prime Minister was met by hundreds of protesters as he arrived in London on Wednesday. The protesters displayed photos of the eight-year-old girl from a nomadic Muslim community in Kathua, who was gangraped and murdered in January, allegedly by a group that included policemen and a former government official.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last week said that justice will be done and no criminal will be spared, referring to the rape cases that have sparked outrage across India.

(With inputs from PTI)