Silent marches, slogan shouting protests, and blockades marked the city’s reaction to the death of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim on Saturday.
The news of her death, which was flashed on television channels from early morning, spread fast on social networking sites and through messages across the city and in no time, black flags and black badges started appearing at various places.
Activists of various women’s organisations, setting aside political affiliations, gathered in front of the Palayam Martyrs’ Square before taking out a march through the city.
The Women Protection Council took out a condolence rally from the Secretariat to the Martyrs’ Square, where floral tributes were paid to the victim.
Students’ organisations including the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and the Students Federation of India (SFI) were among those who held meetings condoling the death and also registering their strong protests against the incident.
Several other organisations too took out silent rallies while there were many smaller placard protests, some by even just two protestors, but all registering their grief and protest over the incident.
The protests also saw activist of the AIYF, AISF, and Mahila Sangham barging into the General Post Office and blocking the office for several hours, raising slogans in protest against the incident. CPI district secretary Venjarammoodu Sashi led the protest.
Jameela Prakasham, MLA, inaugurating a condolence meeting convened by the Trivandrum Bar Association, said urgent amendments to existing laws were required to make the punishment for such crimes more stringent. Association president K.P. Jayakumar, Mahila Congress State president Bindu Krishna, AIDWA leader Pathirapally Krishnakumari, and others also spoke.
