Assembled under the banner of Basavakalyan Nagrik Samiti, thousands of people from different communities took to the streets on Saturday condemning the brutal rape and murder of a veterinary doctor near Hyderabad and another minor girl in Chincholi taluk of Kalaburagi district.
The protesters gathered at the historic Basavakalyan Fort and marched through the major streets raising slogans against the rapists. They reached the tahshildar’s office premises, where they staged a demonstration. They also demanded capital punishment for the rapists and appealed to advocates not to defend the rape-accused in court.
Ravi Gaikwad, a Dalit leader, expressed concern over the increasing number of sexual assaults on women and children across the country. “The police and administration need to be more aggressive in curbing the menace of sexual violence,” he said.
Arjun Kanak, a Christian leader, sought an appropriate amendment to the relevant laws to ensure stringent punishment for violence against women and children, safety of survivors, and speedy delivery of justice.
‘Training centres’
Describing pornography websites and other media that disseminate sexually objectionable content as training centres for rapists, Mujahid Pasha Qureshi, a Muslim leader, demanded that the government impose a strict ban on them. “India is a country where women are viewed as goddesses and worshipped. The same country is no longer a safe place for women as they are subjected to heinous crimes such as rape, molestation, domestic violence and female foeticide. It shows the degeneration of Indian society. The government should come down heavily on offenders and devise ways to curb the menace.”
The protesters then submitted a memorandum with all these demands to the office of the tahsildar.
