MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Sunday said that stringent Sharia-type law should be imposed to tackle heinous crimes like rape against women and minors as people have no fear of the law.

He also hit out at the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP ) who stood out in support of the accused in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua rape case.

“[The BJP] could not do anything of worth in the last four years to show voters, and now they only want to instigate riots to win elections. These BJP leaders created Hindu Ekta Manch in Jammu which held a rally shouting slogans of Bharat Mata ki jai , waving the tricolour in favour of rapists. How can you even think of doing so? The eight-year-old innocent child was not even aware of her religion and had to undergo such a pain. Here we have a party which is protecting the rapists,” said Thackeray, reported The Hindu.

“Smriti Irani was sending bangles to the then Prime Minister when the Nirbhaya case happened. What has happened now? Has she stopped wearing bangles now?” the Thackeray asked.

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This is not the first time, the MNS chief gave bats for Sharia-type law.

Earlier in 2016, Thackeray gave the similar statement when a 14-year old schoolgirl was kidnapped, gangraped and her body badly mutilated in Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district.

“There is a need for a Sharia-type law, prevalent in some Islamic countries, to deal with such crimes,” he had said.