DHAKA: India’s top police official was under fire on Wednesday for saying, ‘If you can’t prevent rape, you might as well enjoy it’.

Central Bureau of Investigation chief Ranjit Sinha made the comment on Tuesday during a conference about illegal sports betting and the need to legalise gambling.

The CBI, the country’s premier investigative agency, is India’s equivalent of the FBI.

Sinha said that if the state could not stop gambling it could at least make some revenue by legalising it. His remarks about rape were in this context.

The remarks have caused outrage across India, which in the past year has been roiled by widespread protests following the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in New Delhi.

Sinha said on Wednesday that his comments were taken out of context and were misinterpreted, but angry activists called for his resignation, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1410 HRS, NOV 13, 2013
RoR/BSK