Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala also backed demands for new laws that will allow marriage of teenagers saying it would help end the surge in sexual crimes reported from across the State in recent weeks. Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury defended Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda against charges that he had failed to act against the wave of attacks, in many of which the victims were dalit women and the perpetrators, upper-caste men. Ms. Chowdhury said the State government was working discreetly to reassure the families that they will be safe and they will not have to worry about the social support they need. It is not a very simple black and white law and order issue only. CPI MP Brinda Karat criticised Ms. Chowdhury’s argument, noting that in several of these cases the perpetrators videotaped and circulated their crime, while in others the victim had been murdered.Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, however, appeared to be more critical of the State government, saying he was constantly monitoring the situation. Both Mr. Shinde and Ms. Chowdhury condemned Mr. Chautala's remarks. Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited the State to meet with the family of a 15-year-old Dalit girl who committed suicide by immolating herself after she was gang-raped on October 6 at Sacha Khera village in Jind district. The wave of sexual assaults began on September 9 when a Dalit girl was gang-raped in Hisar town. Multimedia clips of the assault were circulated by the accused on mobile phones. The incident came to light on September 18 when the father of the girl committed suicide on learning about them. Following this, a newly-married 19-year-old woman was abducted and raped by four men in Gohana town near Sonepat; a 30-year-old married woman from a backward community was gang-raped at gunpoint by three men in Jind district while her family members were held hostage and the crime was videotaped; and a teenaged girl was gang-raped in a moving car by three young men in Bhiwani. Both major parties in Haryana have been reluctant to challenge the Khap panchayats frontally on the rape issue, fearing losing electoral capital.