Ranjit Sinha made
the remark while speaking on illegal sports betting.
"If you cannot
enforce the ban on betting, it is like saying 'if you can't prevent rape, you
enjoy it'," he said at a meeting on sports ethics.
Women leaders like
Brinda Karat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said Mr Sinha's remarks
were "shocking".
Mr Sinha, the
director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), later said he regretted
"any hurt" caused by his "inadvertent and unintended
remarks".
"I gave my
opinion that betting should be legalised and that if the laws cannot be
enforced that does not mean that laws should not be made. This is as erroneous as
saying that if rape is inevitable one should lie back and enjoy it," he
said in a statement on Wednesday.
"I regret any
hurt caused as the same was inadvertent and unintended. I reiterate my deep
sense of regard and respect for women and commitment to gender issues."
Women activists had
criticised Mr Sinha's comments and demanded that he resign.
'Malicious propaganda'
"It is
sickening that a man, who is in charge of several rape investigations, should
use such an analogy. He should be prosecuted for degrading and insulting
women," Ms Brinda Karat told The Hindu newspaper.
Ranjana Kumari of
the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research told The Hindustan Times newspaper
that "such a senior police officer... should not have passed such a
remark".
"It is not acceptable
and he should apologise for it. It has become a habit of people in senior
positions to treat the issue of sexual assault lightly."
Activist Kavita
Krishnan told the BBC Hindi that if the head of India 's main investigating agency
"doesn't understand the difference between rape and enjoyment, then he
should step down from his position".
On Tuesday, Mr
Sinha told The Hindustan Times that he was "using a proverb" to
"make a point" about "how difficult it was to enforce a ban on
betting".
"[The reaction
to the remark is] malicious propaganda, it's hitting below the belt, and it's
unfair," he told the newspaper in New
Delhi .
The issue of sexual
violence against women in India
has been under intense scrutiny since the gang rape and murder of a student on
a Delhi bus in
December led to widespread protests.
