Eleven-year-old Kunal Deep, a Class VII student of a government school, was among the hordes of protesters who took to streets in the Capital on Saturday demanding justice for the family of the Unnao rape victim who died of burn injuries after being set ablaze by the accused.
“No one sent me here. I know this protest is against rape. I also want rapists to be hanged,” he said right after raising slogans with crowd.
On Saturday evening, hundreds of people started their candlelight march from Rajghat — where Delhi Commission for Women Chief Swati Maliwal is sitting on an indefinite hunger strike — to India Gate. But they were stopped by Delhi Police in IP Estate area before the Police Headquarters junction. Protest at the heavily barricaded site continued for three hours before the protesters went back to Rajghat around 8 p.m.
The police also used water cannons as a crowd control measure. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) M.S. Randhawa said that “Water cannon was used when protesters threw torch [mashal] towards police officers.”
Climbed atop police van
Protesters also tried to jump the barricades and climbed atop a police van but were contained.
A 19-year-old media student from Dwarka, who identified himself as Aditya Raj, said that he was taking part in the protest because he believes that it will change people’s mentality. “We need to do something. People’s mentality need to change. Those who commit the crime need to be scared of the law,” he said.
His friend Pragya Gulati said that the reason why she was there was for her mother not to feel scared if she goes out alone. “When I was coming for the protest, my mother told me that I can only go if my male friends are going. This is what I want to change,” she said, demanding stricter laws against rape accused.
“There are big social campaigns by multi-national companies that make an impact. Why can’t the government invest in campaigns against rape,” she asked.
Angry at the police for putting barricades, the students said, “They are here standing against us but can’t help women when they approach them for help”.
Another protester Sujata Garg, a Chartered Accountant by profession, said that if the government doesn’t do anything for them, then women will have to take it upon themselves. Referring to the Hyderabad encounter in which the police shot the four rape accused dead, she said, “As of now it is the police. In no time, you might see public doing it.”
Maliwal continues stir
Continuing her hunger strike, Ms. Maliwal said that the police used water cannons at protesters and thrashed women. “They can’t hang the rapists but don’t shy away from torturing women,” she said.
She demanded that the accused in the Unnao case be hanged within a month.
“I appeal to the U.P. government and the Centre to fast-track this case and ensure that the perpetrators are hanged within a month,” said Ms. Maliwal.
Following the death of the Unnao rape victim, the DCW chief accused the government of being “deaf” and “insensitive” and not hearing the “screams” of rape victims, adding that she was “ashamed” of the country’s government.
Youth Cong. protests
Meanwhile, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Indian Youth Congress (IYC) organised candlelight marches to demand justice for the Unnao victim.
The IYC, which sat on a protest in front of the Uttar Pradesh Bhavan, in a statement said “If the culprits had been prosecuted on time, she would not have been set ablaze.”
The group took aim at the Bharatiya Janata Party and said that the Home Departments of the State and the Centre should have taken “timely cognisance”. They should have worked upon to create a safe environment for women in the country.
“The rising incidents of rape and brutal murders of our daughters and sisters in the country show that the current government has failed to provide the common minimum need of safety to women,” it said, adding that the government must give a definite answer on the steps it intends to take to provide a safe environment for women.
The NSUI in a march to Jantar Mantar also demanded justice for the recent rape victims in Unnao and in Hyderabad and called for capital punishment against those accused.
“The Prime Minister’s avoidance to talk about the increasing incidence of rape in the country, it was clear that the government supported rapists and allowed them to fester,” said a protester. The NSUI pinned the blame for the increasing rapes on the BJP’s “anti-women” attitude.
