The BJP MLA from Ballia constituency in Uttar Pradesh, while reacting to the Hathras rape incident, said that rapes can be done away with only if the parents teach their daughters to behave decently.

ANI reported Surendra Singh, the MLA, as saying, "Yeh ghatnaye keval sanskaar se ruk sakti hain, shashan aur talwar se rukne wala nahin hain. Sabhi mata-pita ka dharm hai ki woh apni jawan aur yuvti beti ko ek sanskari vaatavaran mein shaalin vyavhaar karne ka tareeka sikhana chahiye. [Such incidents can only be stopped by good values, and not by governance or sword. It is every parent's dharma to raise their young daughters in a cultured environment and teach them to behave decently.]"

India Today translated his remark in English as, "If it is the government's dharma to provide protection, it is the family's dharma to teach good values to their children. It is only the combination of government and good values that can make the country beautiful."