NEW DELHI, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- India's new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, spoke out Friday for the first time against the growing prevalence of sexual assault in India.
"Today as we hear about the incidents of rapes, our head hangs in shame," Modi said in his Independence Day speech.
He urged parents to ask their sons the same questions asked of their daughters: "'Where are you going? Why are you going? Who are your friends?' After all, the rapist is also someone's son."
Sexual violence against women and girls in India has sparked public outrage. On July 7, a 14-year-old girl was raped in retaliation for her brother's inappropriate behavior toward a married woman. In May, two girls, ages 14 and 16, were gang-raped and hanged in the Budaun district in Uttar Pradesh state. Protesters took to the streets to call for an end to sexual violence against women and girls.
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