Rapes will continue till world exists, says TMC MP Dipak Haldar

After Tapas Paul, another Trinamool Congress leader has sparked a controversy through his remark that "as long as the world exists, rapes would continue", inviting strong reactions from the opposition and women rights groups.

"Rapes were committed earlier, rapes are being committed now. As long as the world exists, rape would go on," Trinamool MLA Dipak Haldar said during a meeting at Diamond Harbour in the neighbouring South 24 Paraganas district on Wednesday.

Haldar described rape as a social disease and said, "We do not support rape. It is not possible for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alone to solve this issue."

Earlier, another party leader, MP Tapas Pal, had earlier threatened to kill opposition CPI(M) workers and have their women raped if a single worker from his party was attacked. The comment triggered an outrage all over the country which was grappling with serious rape incidents from UP. The outrage forced him to tender a public apology.

Congress leader Manish Tewari reacted to the statement and said it was extremely unfortunate that such insensitive comments were made.