It was a silent rally which screamed for public attention. Post-dusk, a large group of young boys and girls hit the road and walked silently holding placards that grabbed attention of the passersby.
The rallyists were members of the Civil Engineering Association and Seva Club of the Koneru Lakshmaiah University (KLU) who came out in the open to express their heart-felt condolences to the bereaved family members of the Delhi gangrape victim who died at the end of a 15-day-long battle for survival.
The young participants, 60-odd in number, had a black band around their mouth as a mark of protest against the brutal rape and battering of the 23-year-old para-medical student, which ultimately resulted in her tragic end at a Singapore hospital.
The rally started at the LEPL, Patamata, and ended at Dr. N.T.R. University of Health Sciences.
The placards held high by the students read slogans like: ‘Not as a Brother, Not as a Sister, Not as an Indian, Asking the Right to be treated like a Human Being’ and “Hang the Rapists, Hand Them Over to the Public”.
The youngsters then lighted candles and whispered a silent prayer as mark of respect to the departed soul.
The rallyists were led by two boys who rode a motor cycle the headlights of which showed the path to the protesters, as the rally was a post-dusk event.
The participants have decided to forego New Year Celebrations to express solidarity with many others who are mourning the tragic incident across the nation.
Meanwhile, the Krishna district unit of Jana Vignana Vedika, on Monday condoled the death of the Delhi rape victim.
Expressing grave concern over the alarming rise against women in the society, the Vedika members demanded stringent punishment to the culprits.
They said vested interests were behind projecting India as a patriarchal society where women were being treated like sex symbols.
They said those at the helm of affairs in states where such atrocities were taking place, must share the guilt of perpetrating crime against women. They said people must rise against this decadent culture and teach the perpetrators of such heinous crimes a fitting lesson.
The gang rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student in Delhi evoked angry protest by a large number of students of Vignan Educational Institutions here on Monday.
They staged a demonstration at Gujjanagundla centre in protest against the brutal assault on the young girl in a city bus.
Stringent punishment should be given to the guilty lest more women should become victims of the heinous crime, they demanded and expressed condolence over the death of the Delhi gangrape victim.
