India's Top Cop Under Fire For Rape Remarks

India's top police chief is facing calls for his resignation after he said: "If you can't prevent rape, you might as well enjoy it."

Ranjit Sinha, director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) - India's equivalent of the United States' FBI - apologised for the remark.

However, his comment has sparked outrage across the country, which in the past year has seen widespread protests following the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in New Delhi.

Mr Sinha made the comment during a CBI conference about illegal sports betting and the need to legalise gambling.

"Do we have the enforcement?" Mr Sinha said at the event in New Delhi on Tuesday about whether sports betting should be legalised.

There have been widespread protests demanding tougher penalties for rape

"It is very easy to say that if you can't enforce it, it's like saying if you can't prevent rape, you enjoy it."

He insisted his comments were taken out of context and were misinterpreted, but angry activists called for his resignation.

"I regret any hurt caused," Mr Sinha said. "I gave my opinion that betting should be legalised and that if the laws cannot be enforced, that does not mean that laws should not be made.

"This is as erroneous as saying that if rape is inevitable one should lie back and enjoy it. I reiterate my deep sense of regard and respect for women and my commitment for gender issues."

But civil rights campaigners and opposition politicians said his remarks risked trivialising the issue of rape and raised questions over the CBI's ability to investigate serious sexual assaults.

Kavita Krishnan, an activist with the All India Progressive Women's Association, called for Mr Sinha to step down.

"How can he remain the head of India's premier investigation agency?" she said.

There were more than 24,000 reported rapes in India in 2011

Nirmala Sitharaman, spokeswoman for the main opposition group, the Bharatiya Janata Party, described the remarks as "shocking".

"Wonder if his colleagues in the Bureau, his family and well-wishers approve of his view," she wrote on Twitter.

Communist Party of India leader Brinda Karat condemned Mr Sinha's comments as offensive to all women.

"It is sickening that a man who is in charge of several rape investigations should use such an analogy," she said. "He should be prosecuted for degrading and insulting women."

The New Delhi bus attack last December caused nationwide outrage and forced the government to change rape laws and create fast-track courts for rape cases.

New laws introduced after the attack make stalking, voyeurism and sexual harassment a crime.

They also provide for the death penalty for repeat offenders or for rape attacks that lead to the victim's death.

There were more than 24,000 reported rapes in India in 2011, but activists say the real number is many times higher.

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