Patna: Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over rapes in the country, saying these days police ask " kitne aadmi thhe (how many men were there?)" when any such case is reported.

Renuka was speaking at the first meeting of the National Forum, founded by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha. Not referring to any particular rape case, she said: "These days women are afraid of going out. There was a dialogue in the film Sholay, what was that Shatrughanji?"

The Patna Sahib MP, who was sitting next to leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, replied: " Kitne aadmi thhe".

"Yes, arey o Samba, kitne aadmi thhe," Renuka continued. "In a similar way, when a girl goes out of the house and is raped, the police ask her at the police station 'kitne aadmi thhe'. In this situation, the Prime Minister of the country likes to roam foreign countries. Has he ever met the victim families and asked about their pain? There are only a few countries left that the PM has not visited."

The past week Prime Minister Modi was in London.

Renuka said the Centre sat idle in Parliament for a month, taking umbrage at her laughter. Renuka was recently in news after minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju shared a video clip showing a laughing Surpanakha that mysteriously disappeared after charges were levelled that he was comparing Ravana's sister with Renuka for guffawing at the Prime Minister while he was speaking about Aadhaar.

The clip was posted on Rijiju's Facebook page, clubbed with footage showing senior BJP leaders and ministers thumping desks in the Rajya Sabha after Modi responded to Renuka's guffaw saying: "Such laughter has been heard for the first time after the Ramayana serial."

Renuka had burst into laughter when Modi retraced the roots of Aadhaar to a plan mooted by L.K. Advani in 1988.

Taunting the BJP government over implementation of the goods and services tax, she said only 3 per cent GST is levied on gold and diamond but pesticides used by the farmers has a GST of 18 per cent. She called the BJP-led NDA government anti-farmer, anti-Dalit and anti-women, adding that people have become beggars to withdraw their own money from ATMs - pointing at the cash crunch in the country.

She also alleged that the Prime Minister was tapping her phone because, she claimed, he had no work and no family members. "He is running Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao but in reality he is anti-women. What will he understand about this campaign? He does not have a daughter. He was telling lies in Parliament about Aadhaar, so I laughed. Thank god, there is no GST on laughing," Renuka laughed.