THE All India Democratic Women’s Association in a statement issued on April 11 strongly condemned the Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh for trivializing the serious crime of rape and gang rape in a public meeting at Moradabad on April 10, where he openly asked for condoning such heinous acts as momentary lapses. Rape can hardly be called a “mistake” as Yadav thinks it is; more than often it is a premeditated act and an expression and assertion of power over women. It can in no way be condoned by using the old patriarchal argument that “Boys will be Boys”.  The Shakti Mills case, which he criticised is clearly a case of gang rape by lumpen elements who had already committed a similar crime. By making such retrograde remarks, he is denigrating rape survivors and downplaying the gravity of sexual assault. He is obfuscating the issue by using the ploy of the debatable application of death penalty for sexual assault. Such statements, especially by politicians who tend to influence policy making, will only further vitiate existing gender biases in our society, AIDWA said. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat in a statement issued on April 11, 2014 said that one may oppose the death penalty for rape offenders, but to trivialise rape as a "small mistake" as the Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has done, is most shocking and condemnable. It underlines the urgent necessity for a code of conduct for political leaders against sexist and anti-women remarks, she said.