Ten excuses for rape in independent India
1. Damn those smartphones
"2.5-year-old getting raped, why? Its because of smartphones. Even in villages people can download things."
- Azam Khan, Samajwadi Party minister on toddlers getting raped.
2. Never the man, always the mannequin
"Lingerie mannequins promote rapes. Skimpily-clad mannequins can pollute young minds. After the Delhi rape case, I felt something had to be done."
- Ritu Tawade, the BJP corporator who mooted the proposal to ban lingerie mannequins.
3. Nasty noodles
"To my understanding, consumption of fast food contributes to such incidents. Chowmein leads to hormonal imbalance evoking an urge to indulge in such acts. Hence, our elders too advised to eat light and nutritious food."
- Jitender Chhatar, Thua Khap Panchayat leader.
4. Cursed connectivity
"There is no need to give phones to women and children. They distract them and are useless. Why do women need phones? My mother, wife and sister never had mobile phones. They survived without one."
- Rajpal Saini, BSP leader
5. The bro code
"The victim is as guilty as her rapists… She should have called the culprits brothers and begged before them to stop. Had she recited the Saraswati Mantra, she would not have boarded any bus after watching a movie with her boyfriend."
- Asaram Bapu, self-styled godman, alleged human-rapist
6. The fabric of doom
"We should pay more attention to where our girls are going. A mobile phone is like a disease. It should be banned. We should stop our girls from wearing jeans."
- Ranvir Singh, Haryana Khap Panchayat leader
7. Marital bliss
"Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape." - Indian Penal Code
8. Lessons in geography
"Rape is mainly prevalent in urban 'India' due to Western influence and such crimes against women do not happen in rural 'Bharat'."
- Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS chief
9. The fault in our stars
"We have no answer to this rising spate of crimes against women. Stars are not in position."
- Nanki Ram Kanwar, former Chhattisgarh home minister.
10. Bird brain
"If you closely watch animals, I've seen a male bird exactly doing to a female bird what this man did. I've seen this happen. It's an animal instinct. Nature is one thing, nurturance is the other thing. This man never went through nurturance."
- Kiran Bedi tweeted about Mukesh Singh.