National outrage over lawmaker's 'rape' threat

An Indian lawmaker faced calls to quit on Tuesday after he was captured on video threatening the rape of his political rivals' relatives.

Amid widespread outrage in India over a series of recent high-profile rapes, the Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal could be clearly heard bragging of his ability to order attacks against his left-wing opponents.

"If CPIM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) tries to kill and intimidate our workers ... I will not spare them. I will let loose my men to rape your women," he said in an address to followers in late May and filmed on a smartphone.

His comments drew widespread condemnation on Tuesday, including from Trinamool, which is the fourth largest party in Parliament and whose support is concentrated in the state of West Bengal.

"We do not in any way endorse what he said," party spokesman Derek O'Brien said, adding that party leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was "hopping mad" about the remarks.

Pal tried to limit the damage by claiming he had been misquoted. "I never said rape. I said raid. I said they should raid all the people and places, including women and old," he said, refusing to apologize.

But even his own wife Nandini said the lawmaker was out of line.

"I feel terrible about it. Whatever he has said, it is not right being a member of the Parliament," she said.

India brought in tougher laws last year against sex offenders after the fatal gang-rape of a student in New Delhi in December 2012, but they have failed to stem the tide of violence against women across the country.

In May, two girls were found hanging from a mango tree in the state of Uttar Pradesh after they had been abducted and gang-raped.

(China Daily 07/02/2014 page11)