'Women should not venture out with males who are not kin'

, Jan 8: Joining a list of leaders who made controversial remarks following the Delhi gangrape incident,

leader Abu Azmi on Tuesday said women should not go out with men other than relatives and agreed with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's view that most rapes take place in cities and not villages.

"Women should not venture out with men who are not relatives," Azmi, a member of Maharashtra assembly, said here. "What is the need for roaming at night with men who are not relatives? This should be stopped," he said.

"Such incidents (like the Delhi gangrape of Dec 16) happen due to influence of western culture," Azmi said. Scantily-clad women attract male attention, Azmi said, adding rape cases are on the rise due to "women wearing less clothes".

Azmi agreed with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement on Bharat-India divide when it comes to the incidents of rape and that "rape is a phenomenon that happens in cities and not in villages". "The number of rape cases in villages are less (compared to cities)," he said.

Azmi said, "I am 100 per cent of the opinion that there should be a legislation to prevent outraging modesty of women."

"If a girl goes with her consent with him (boyfriend) to a hotel and does not complain, then it is not an issue. But if the same girl goes with the boy to the hotel and no one knows what happens inside...and if the girl comes out and complains, he would be hanged," Azmi said.

Self-proclaimed godman Asaram Bapu had recently courted controversy for suggesting that the victim of the brutal sexual assault in Delhi was equally responsible for the crime saying the girl could have called her assailants 'brothers' and begged them to stop.

PTI