Cell phones encourage rape: Women's panel member

In a shocking statement, a member of the Uttar Pradesh State Women's Commission has said that girls should not be given mobile phones as it encourages rape.

"Girls talk on phones and later run away with boys," Meena Kumari said during a Mahila Jansunwai in Aligarh on Wednesday and appealed to parents to keep the cell phones away from their daughters.

Meena Kumari also added that parents, especially mothers, should monitor their daughters as crime against women was a result of "their carelessness".

The State Women's Commission has distanced itself from Meena Kumari's statement.

Anju Chaudhary, vice chairperson of the commission, said that the statement was uncalled for.

Meena Kumari, meanwhile, told reporters that she meant that minors and girls from villages do not know how to use phones in the 'right manner'.

"They use phones to make male friends and later run away with them," she said.

She further said that smartphones were also being used to watch inappropriate content.