Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, already under fire over the gangrape of two minor girls on a beach, courted further controversy on Wednesday with his comment that parents need to introspect on why their children were on the beach late at night.

“When 14-year-olds stay on the beach the whole night, the parents need to introspect. Just because children don’t listen, we cannot put the responsibility on the government and police,” Sawant said in the Assembly on Wednesday, reports PTI.

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The incident the Chief Minister was referring to was from Sunday when four men, one of them a government employee, posed as policemen and raped the two girls after beating up the boys who were with the girls on Benaulim beach, around 30 km south of Goa’s capital. All the four accused have been arrested, Sawant told the Assembly.

The Chief Minister said that 10 people were partying on the beach of which four stayed back. “They were on the beach the whole night, two boys and two girls,” said Sawant. “Teens, particularly minors, should not be spending the nights on beaches,” he added.

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Sawant, who also holds the home portfolio, was criticised for the remark with the Opposition Congress saying that the law and order situation in the coastal state had deteriorated. “Why should we fear while moving around at night? Criminals should be in jail and law abiding citizens should be out freely moving around,” Goa Congress spokesperson Altone D’Costa said.

Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai said it is disgusting that the chief minister is making such statements. “The safety of citizens is the responsibility of police and state government. If they can’t provide it to us, the CM has no right to sit in the post,” he added.

Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte said the remark was ‘shocking’, adding that if the government cannot assure safety, who can?