#MeToo offers hope, says rape victim’s mum

NEW DELHI: The mother of a female student whose brutal gang rape sparked mass protests in the country has said the #MeToo movement gives her hope things can change, as she marked the sixth anniversary of the fatal attack.

Asha Singh said the nationwide outrage her daughter’s ordeal provoked had helped create the conditions for Indian women to speak out about sexual misconduct.

“This (#MeToo in India) is the result of that awareness which is helping women to come out with courage,” she said.

“The winds of change are blowing, more women are empowering themselves. I feel hopeful when I see so many women speaking up.”

Asha said her daughter’s murder had helped prompt national soul-searching about treatment of women.

“Men thought they could do whatever they want and get away with it. They thought they were untouchable, but look at how all of that is changing,” said Asha in her sparsely furnished apartment here.

“Little did they think that women would start speaking out, even after 10 or 15 years.”

Despite reforms, there has been little improvement in women’s safety in India, which recorded 40,000 rapes in 2016.

Asha said the figures would not be so high if India fixed its notoriously slow and creaking criminal justice system.

“Today completes six years (of the attack), but even today, the guilty are alive,” she said.

“This sends a wrong message to society. Today, little girls are being attacked because nobody fears the law.”