NEW DELHI (AP) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday that India had been shamed by rapes and attacks against women, and called on parents in this deeply misogynistic country to treat their sons and daughters equally in his first speech marking the country’s independence from colonial rule.
“The law will do its job and do it strictly but as a society every parent also has a responsibility to teach their sons the difference between right and wrong,” Modi said as he addressed the nation from the Red Fort, the sprawling 17th century fortress that was once home to India’s medieval Mughal rulers.
“Today when we hear news reports of rapes, our heads hang in shame,” Modi said, addressing a growing anger against persistent violence against women.
A fatal gang rape on a moving bus in the Indian capital in December 2012 enraged a country long inured to sexual violence against women. Amid scores of public protests new and tougher legislation was enacted doubling prison terms for rapists to 20 years and criminalizing voyeurism, stalking and the trafficking of women.
Modi called on all lawmakers to ensure that separate toilets were built for girls and women. A lack of private toilets in schools has been cited as a reason for girls dropping out of schools. Women in rural India often must use faraway fields as toilets where they are often harassed and sometimes face sexual violence.