An Indian politician has claimed rapists should be hung upside down and tortured until their skin comes off – punishment she says she has previously ordered police to use similar methods.

Uma Bharti, the water resources minister, made the shocking statement to crowds at a political rally in Agra, in Uttar Pradesh state, where she was campaigning for a local politician.

She said: "Rapists should be tortured in front of victims until they beg for forgiveness.

"The rapists should be hung upside down and beaten till their skin comes off.

"Salt and chilli should be rubbed on their wounds until they scream.

“Mothers and sisters should watch so they can get closure," the BBC report.

She referenced a case from last July, where a mother and her daughter were gang-raped in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh.

The minister criticised the state’s government, saying they had failed to serve justice for the victims.

Contrasting with her own time in office, when she was the Chief Minister of Madya Pradesh state from 2003 to 2004, she claims to have ordered punishments for suspected rapists.

She claimed: "I would tell the cops to hang the rapists upside down and beat them so hard that they would cry out.

"I would tell women to watch through windows of the police station.”

And recalling the objections of a policeman, she continued: “I told him people who behave like 'danav' (demons) cannot have Manavadhikar (human rights).

In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' Show all 13 1 /13 In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Sohan, father and uncle of Murti and Pushpa, the two girls who were raped and hanged in Katra Sadatganj in Uttar Pradesh, is comforted by his mother (Photo Simon de Trey-White) Simon de Trey-White In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Murti's mother is briefed by the local Senior Superintendant of Police Atul Saxena (Photo Simon de Trey-White) Simon de Trey-White In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Sohan (55) holds passport sized images in his hands of his daughter Murti (right) and niece Pushpa (left) in Katra village, Ushait near Baduan, Uttar Pradesh (Photo Simon de Trey-White) Simon de Trey-White In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Murti’s brother Veerendar (Photo Simon de Trey-White) Simon de Trey-White In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Villagers stand by the mango tree from which the two girls were hanged (Photo Simon de Trey-White) In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Villagers and media throng the home of the murdered teenage girls (Photo Simon de Trey-White) In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Congress party Vice President Rahul Gandhi interacts with women during his visit to the village of the two girls In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Demonstrators from All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) hold placards and shout slogans during a protest in New Delhi against the recent killings In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Members of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) shout slogans during the protest In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Members of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union shout slogans as they participate in a protest against the gang rape In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape A member of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union shouts slogans In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape An activist places a candle on a pavement during a candle lit vigil to protest against the gang rape of two teenage girls In pictures: India in shock after teenage girls 'gang raped and hanged' India gang rape Activists hold candles during a vigil

“Their heads should be cut off like Ravana's".

Ravana is an evil demon king in Hindu mythology, one of the main religions in India.

Reports from the Hindustan Times, citing figures from the National Crime Records Bureau, show that in 2003 when Ms Bharti was Madya Pradesh reported the highest number of rapes in India, at 2,738.

And in the case of molestation the state also had the highest statistic, reporting 6,848.

Ms Bharti is a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India.

Sexual violence in India is increasing overall, according to figures from the Indian government, and several high profile cases have shocked the world.

The gang rape and murder of student on a school bus in Delhi hit the headlines world wide in 2012, and received international condemnation, forcing the issue into the spotlight.