Under fire, Mulayam retracts his remarks on rape victims

Chanduli: Facing flak over his comments on rape victims, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today did a U-turn saying he had only spoken about justice to the rape victims and not about providing government jobs to them.

"We have said about justice to the rape victims, this (providing jobs to them) has been added to it," he told reporters when asked about his yesterday's statement of providing government jobs to the rape victims or one of their family members.

The SP leader said stern action would be taken against the rapists in the event of his party coming to power in the state.

Addressing a poll rally in Siddharth Nagar yesterday, Mulayam had announced that rape victims would be given government jobs if his party was voted to power in Uttar Pradesh.

"The incidents of rape will be checked effectively and government jobs will be given to rape victims or one of their family members in the state," he had said.

Opposition parties had sharply reacted to Mulayam's announcement terming it as "laughable" and a "cruel joke".