Mullapally Ramachandran, the President of the Congress's Kerala unit, has been criticised for crude and sexist remarks made during a speech in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Mr Ramachandran, who was targeting the ruling Left government in the state in his address, later expressed regret. "We can understand if a woman says she was raped once. If raped a woman with self-respect will either die or will not let that happen again," he had said.