In solidarity with the Delhi gang rape victim and demanding a slew of measures for the safety of women and stern laws to deal with crime against them, protests continued in the city on Monday.
A candle light protest was organised at Mahatma Gandhi statue near GVMC by Mahila Chetana, Human Rights Forum, POW (Stree Vimukti) and Bharata Nastika Samajam demanding measures to ensure safety of women in cities and towns and stern action to prevent sexual crime against women.
Raising slogans against the Delhi rape and describing it as national shame, the protestors demanded policing to prevent crime against women. Among other things, they wanted more patrolling, GPS for urban public transport, installing CCTVs at some identified places.
Fast-tracking of cases of crime against women, review of Sections 376 and 354 to plug loopholes in implementing the laws and withdrawal of armed forces from the Northeast where they were involved in sexual attacks were the other demands.
Mahila Chetana secretary K. Padma and HRF secretary V.S. Krishna led the protests.
Rally
About 500 students of Chaitanya and Sri Chaitanya Engineering Colleges, half of them girls, came in a rally to the Collectorate demanding action against the perpetrators of the heinous crime and safety for women.
Led by its city secretary M. Paidiraju, CPI city unit went on a dharna at the Collectorate demanding action against those involved in the crime and alleging indifference on the part of the government.
All India Mahila Samskrutika Sangham, All India Democratic Students’ Organisation and All India Democratic Youth Organisation organised a protest at the Women’s Degree College deploring the repression of protestors at New Delhi and action against the rapists. They also wanted measures to deal with obscenity and violence causing crime against women. Suresh Kumar of AIDYO demanded laws to ensure total safety of women.
SFI, DYFI and AIDWA took out a rally from RTC Complex to Ambedkar statue via Old Jail Road and Women’s College and formed a human chain there demanding punishment to the rapists and preventive steps for the safety of women.
AIDWA district secretary B. Prabhavati, SFI city secretary B. Jagan and DYFI district secretary V.V. Srinivasa Rao led the protest.
Telugu Mahila demand
Condemning the reported comments of Transport Minister and PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana on the Delhi gang-rape, the Telugu Mahila demanded that he be sacked from both the posts.
Telugu Mahila State president Sobha Hymavathi, who led a protest at the Gandhi statue near GVMC on Monday evening, said his comments betrayed his attitude towards women even as AICC president Sonia Gandhi herself condemned the gang-rape.
The TDP activists burnt an effigy of the PCC president protesting against his reported remarks that women should not move about at midnight and that it was a small incident.
Ms. Hymavati recalled that the girl was going home around 10 p.m. and wondered whether women should give up their jobs.
Stating that Ms. Gandhi had all the power at her disposal to take preventive measures, she demanded that the rapists be hanged.
Telugu Mahila district leaders A. Manju and Nargis and former corporator P. Veeralakshmi were present.