Can dominance of men in the state be cited as the reason for its top position in rape crime? The answer is “yes”, according to Rajasthan’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal.

The minister has stirred a hornet’s nest with his controversial statement, which he made to “explain the reason” for Rajasthan being number one in rape crime.

Dhariwal said: “We are number one in rape cases, what are reasons of these rape cases now? Somewhere there is a mistake.”

“Anyway, Rajasthan has been a men’s state, now what to do with it,” he added.

His remark made many ministers and Congress MLAs laugh. No one even interrupted Dhariwal, who was replying to a debate on the demands for grants of police and jails in the Assembly on Wednesday night.

Dhariwal said: “Look at the cases of rape, the figures of rape and rape with murder are different. Rajasthan is at number 11 in rape with murder. Uttar Pradesh is at number one in rape with murder. Madhya Pradesh is on two, Assam on three, Maharashtra at number four, Orissa at number five….”

“Rajasthan is at number one in the case of rape, there is no doubt about it. Uttar Pradesh is at number two, Madhya Pradesh at number three, Assam at number five and Haryana at number six. The wrong figures given by BJP regarding this have been rectified,” he added.

Surprisingly, Dhariwal made the statement when there were three women ministers in the government.

The Opposition MLAs were not present in the House at the time when the Parliamentary Affairs Minister made the statement.

The BJP MLAs had walked out of the House as soon as Dhariwal started replying and no one objected to the statement made in the absence of the Opposition.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)