Indian lawmaker says rape cases increasing ‘as some dresses worn by women excite men’

The lawmaker said students should be ‘fully clothed’

A lawmaker from the southern Indian state of Karnataka triggered anger after falsely claiming that rape cases in the country are increasing as some clothes worn by women "excite men".

MP Renukacharya, the lawmaker from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, made the remarks in response to a statement by opposition leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra amid a row over a "ban" on Muslim women and girls wearing hijab in school and colleges.

"It's a low-level statement; to use a word like ‘bikini’. While studying in college, children should be fully clothed. Rapes today are increasing because of women’s clothes as men get provoked. It's not right. Women have respect in our country," he told India Today TV.

Ms Gandhi Vadra, the Congress national general secretary, in support of women's right to choose, had tweeted: "Whether it is a bikini, a ghoonghat [veil], a pair of jeans or a hijab, it is a woman’s right to decide what she wants to wear".

"This right is guaranteed by the Indian constitution. Stop harassing women," she added.

However, a few hours after making the derogatory statement, the BJP leader offered a conditional apology to women.

"If my statement has hurt our sisters, I will definitely apologise. I respect them," he said.

A standoff between the authorities and students began when on 28 December last year students at the Pre-University College in Udupi were barred from attending college wearing hijab. Protests intensified on Tuesday as the High Court began hearing pleas to overturn a ban on the hijab in government-run schools.

The BJP-run state government had urged students not to wear clothing that “disturbs... public order” until the court gives its ruling, taken as a reference to the hijab.

Videos from one of the colleges in the Mandya region showed a large group of boys wearing saffron scarves — a colour associated with India's right-wing — heckling a burqa-clad student.

Similarly, in another college in the Udupi region, a crowd of men in saffron scarves chanting "Jai Shri Ram" (Hail to Lord Ram) protested against their hijab-wearing peers.

Chief minister Basavaraj S Bommai declared the closure of all schools and colleges for three and urged “students, teachers and management.... as well as people of Karnataka to maintain peace and harmony”.

The plea to overturn the ban has been referred to a higher bench of the Karnataka High Court. Meanwhile, a separate plea has also been filed before India's Supreme Court.