A minister in India's most populous state is being criticised after reportedly saying that women over the age of 30 cannot be taken 'on face value' when making allegations of rape.
Uttar Pradesh Water Resources, Forest and Environment Minister Upendra Tiwari reportedly said, "rape has its nature and rape of a married woman is different."
The minister's comments come at a time when several rape incidents have been reported in the past week including the killing of a two-and-half-year-old girl in Aligarh in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
When journalists asked for a comment on the spate of these incidents, Mr Tiwari said, "Rape has got its nature. For instance, if a minor is raped, we will consider it rape. However, sometimes they say a married woman is raped who is 30-35 years old. Sometimes we see the woman is in a relationship for 7-8 years and she says she is being raped for seven years… so all these incidents have their nature."
The minister's statement sparked debate after some prominent personalities came to his defence.
Bollywood actor Payal Rohatgi retweeted comment appearing to justify Mr Tiwari's statement.
However, many women's rights activists have censured the statement by the minister.
Activist and filmmaker Santasree Chaudhuri said, "Indian state minister suggests women over 30 cannot be rape victims. Upendra Tiwari also says women should only complain about sexual assault when it happens 'not after years'. Hand-picked minister advocating men's rights protecting patriarchy."
In the past, Indian politicians have made controversial remarks about rape.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, had said in 2014, "First girls develop a friendship with boys. They when differences occur, they level rape charges. Boys commit mistakes. Will they be hanged for rape?"
Uttar Pradesh rape cases
More than three cases of rapes have been reported just in the past week in Uttar Pradesh. The victims were all minors.
A 12-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly dragged out of her home and raped by six men in Kushinagar.
In another incident, a teacher reportedly raped another 15-year-old in Kanpur, and last week, the body of a seven-year-old girl was found in Jalaun on Sunday.
Earlier a naked body of an 11-year-old girl was found in a graveyard in Hamirpur district.
All these incidents took place after the uproar against the murder of a two and half year old girl in Aligarh.
The incident sparked a 'justice-for' campaign on social media after the body of the allegedly-mutilated body of the girl was found. The family had reported her missing a few days ago and accused police of inaction. The incident took a communal turn when police arrested two Muslims as the victim was a Hindu girl.
On Monday, six men were convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering an eight-year-old in a much publicised Kathua rape case.
The case had attracted international attention after the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leaders protested in support of now-convicted men.
