Neighbours join Indian rape protests
DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST sexual violence are spreading across south Asia as anger over the gang rape and death of a 23-yearold medical student in Delhi courses through the region.
Inspired by rallies and marches staged across India for nearly three weeks, protests have been held in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh – countries where activists say women suffer high levels of sexual and domestic violence.
In Nepal, the case of a 21-yearold woman who says she was raped and threatened with death by a police officer and robbed by immigration officials prompted hundreds to converge on the prime minister’s residence in Kathmandu. They called for legal reforms and a change in attitudes towards women. ‘‘We had seen the power of the mass campaign in Delhi’s rape case. It is a pure people’s movement,’’ said protester Anita Thapa.
Sultana Kamal, of the Bangladeshi human rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), said the Delhi protests gave them fresh impetus.
On Friday a teenager said to have been repeatedly raped in a hotel died in hospital in Dhaka of injuries sustained when she subsequently tried to take her own life.
Although police arrested suspects and investigations are under way, activists fear that corruption and deep-seated misogyny among investigating officers and the judiciary make a conviction unlikely.
According to ASK’s statistics, at least 1008 women were raped in 2012 in Bangladesh and 98 were later killed.
Khushi Kabir, one of the organisers of a ‘‘ human chain’’ in Dhaka, said although past demonstrations were dominated by women, men were now protesting too. ‘‘We had lawyers, schoolchildren, teachers, theatre activists and personalities, industrialists,’’ she added.
One week after the Delhi rape victim’s death, a fierce debate still rages over India’s sexual violence and attitudes to women. One poli- tician from the opposition BJP was forced to apologise after stating that women who did not stay ‘‘within moral limits . . . paid the price’’.
The Indian media continue to give prominence to attacks that would barely have received attention a month ago. Yesterday it was reported that a 19-year-old woman had died in Jaipur after she set herself on fire following alleged harassment from a neighbour. She said the man had threatened to kill her brother and father if she did not marry him.
Senior officials across south Asia have defended their government’s records on tackling sexual violence. In Delhi, Sushilkumar Shinde, the Indian home secretary, said on Friday that crimes against women were increasing. ‘‘ This needs to be curbed by an iron hand,’’ he said.
Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, the Bangladeshi minister for women and children’s affairs, said her government was ‘‘taking this issue very seriously’’. Protests were expected yesterday in Bangladesh following the rape and killing of a 14-year-old, who had left home to bring in her family’s cows.