“Minor boys and girls should be barred from using mobile phones and Internet keeping in view the rising number of incidents of rape in the country,” Vidyarthi was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ramashankar Vidyarthi on Monday courted conroversy when he said that boys and girls should fully cover their bodies in order to prevent rapes. Vidyarthi, who is the general secretary of the party, said young boys and girls should be barred from using mobile phones and Internet, arguing that these were leading to a rise in incidents of rape in the country. “Minor boys and girls should be barred from using mobile phones and Internet keeping in view the rising number of incidents of rape in the country,” Vidyarthi was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

“For preventing rapes, vulgarity should stop. We should also try to develop a brother-sister bond among youths,” he added. (Mahila aur purush ki banaavat aise di hai ki ussi hisaab se unko kapde pehene chahiyein jisse ashleelta na dikhe. Rape tab tak nahi rukenge, jab tak ashleelta pe pratibandh nahi lagega,iske liye nabaalikon ke haathon se mobile pe pratibandh lagana padega)

A number of insensitive remarks regarding the issue of rising incidents of rapes have created controversies in recent times. At the time of high-profile Unnao Rape case, Surendra Singh, a BJP MLA, had said that parents are responsible for the increasing incidents of rape and they should not let their children roam around freely. While defending Unnao rape accused Kuldeep Singh Sengar, Singh said that a mother of three people can’t be raped. “Can someone rape a mother of three? Tell me. Someone rapes a mother of 3-4. Psychologically I can say it is absolutely untruthful,” he had said.

While speaking about the Chandigarh stalking case, BJP’s deputy state chief, Ramveer Bhatti, said that girls are more likely to be stalked if they go out during odd hours. “Why was the girl out at 12 am,” Bhatti had said.

KG George, the outgoing home minister of Karnataka, had last year said that a rape by two persons can’t be termed as a ‘Gangrape’, it involves 4-5 people, he had said.