Outrage over rapes spills onto streets across India
NATIONWIDE PROTESTS Thousands in Delhi, other cities demand justice for Kathua, Unnao
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW/SURAT: Thousands of people protested across the country on Sunday as outrage grew over the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Jammu’s Kathua and the sexual assault of a teenager in Unnao, a day after another case of the brutal rape and murder of a minor girl was reported in Surat.
Carrying banners and shouting slogans, the protesters marched in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Jammu and other cities, demanding that the government quickly prosecute those accused in the rape cases.
Candlelight vigils were also held at a few places, including Gujarat’s Surat. The city’s police said a minor was allegedly held captive, tortured and raped before being killed recently. Her body — found on April 6 — had had 86 injury marks. She is believed to have been between nine and 11 years of age.
Many protesters expressed anger at the Bharatiya Janata Party, alleging that its leaders in Jammu and Kashmir were initially siding with the accused in the Kathua case.
The eight-year-old girl in Kathua’s Rasana village belonged to a Muslim nomadic tribe, the Bakarwals, and the charge sheet says she was tortured and killed to scare the community away.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the crimes against women a “shame” for the country and asserted that the guilty will not be spared.