West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has come out in defence of Trinamool Congress MLA Deepak Haldar who is facing flak for his rape comment.

"A section is trying to malign us, but you cannot deter us by spreading canards. When a mad dog bites you suffer from rabies and that has what has happened to the Opposition," Banerjee said on Thursday.

The Diamond Harbour MLA said, "There was rape earlier, there is rape today. As long as the earth exists, there will be rape."

"Rapes were committed earlier, rapes are being committed now. As long as the world exists, rape will be there," TMC MLA Dipak Haldar said at a meeting at Diamond Harbour in neighbouring South 24 Paraganas district on Wednesday.

Haldar described rape as a "social disease" and said, "We do not support rape. It is not possible for chief minister Mamata Banerjee alone to solve this problem".

He later tried to explain that his intention was only to raise awareness.

Defending Haldar, Bengal's education minister Partha Chatterjee said, "I have spoken to him and he has clarified that he has said nothing wrong."

Ritubrata Banerjee of CPI(M) said the statements are in "the line with what is happening in TMC itself".

"You cannot expect some action against these leaders," she said.

Barry O'Brien, leader of Bengal BJP said, "It's obvious that TMC leaders are trying to score brownie points with its leadership as to who can outdo the other. They are all speaking in the same tone. It's shocking! Just when you think it can't be worse, there comes another one. Bengal can't tolerate such language. This has gone beyond repair. What can we expect?Tapas Pal is being protected with the tax payer's money. This is the culture of the party and they are simply following their leader!"

Congress leader Manish Tewari said it was "extremely unfortunate" that such insensitive comments continued to be made.

"The fact is that public representatives need to be not only restrained in their utterances but more importantly need to play a positive role in creating a climate where there is safety for women," Tewari said.

These comments remind us of Tapas Pal, another Trinamool leader who had sparked a controversy by his remark "If CPM workers try to kill and intimidate our workers. I will not spare them. I will let loose my men to rape their women," inviting strong condemnation from the opposition and women rights groups.

