Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday blamed the law for an increase in rape cases, a remark that has since sparked controversy.
The chief minister made the remark during the Congress’s ‘black protest’ in Delhi against the central government over price rises and unemployment.
Gehlot said that ever since the law to hang rape accused came into force, the incidents of murder after rape have increased across the country.
“After the Nirbhaya case, the demand to hang the accused gained momentum, and after that, the law came into force. Since then, there has been an increase in the cases of murder of women after rape,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who is also the state excise and finance minister, for the first time acknowledged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the national capital has incurred losses worth “thousands of crores” of rupees under the new excise policy 2021-22, but blamed it squarely on the Lieutenant Governor (L-G), who he alleged “made a U-turn at the last moment” before implementing the new regime from November 17, 2021.
The senior AAP leader said that he is writing to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the matter.