INDIANS ABROAD HOLD CANDLE LIGHT VIGIL FOR DELHI GANG
RAPE VICTIM
Indian diaspora in the US, Australia and the UK held
candle light vigils for the 23-year-old gang-rape victim, demanding stern
punishment for the culprits and fast track courts to deal with sexual assault
cases.Braving chilly weather, Indian-Americans gathered at the Gandhi Statue in
Washington and held a candle light vigil for the girl, who died on 29th
December,2012in Singapore after battling for life for 13 days.“Delhi bus
incident is our ‘Rosa Parks bus incident’. Hopefully we will discuss gender
violence more and do something about it,” a group of Indian-Americans, who held
the candle light vigil last night, said on their Facebook page, especially
created for the occasion.In Melbourne, a large group of Indian men and women
gathered in front of the Indian Consulate and lit candles to express their
outrage over the incident.
Expressing her anger and grief over the loss of the young
girl’s life, lawyer Navjeet Jhaji said the Indian government should take stern
actions against the culprits. “There should be freedom for the women to just
move out freely on the streets.”Ravi Bhatia, a community leader, said sexual
violence was an all too common occurrence in India. “Tens of thousands of women
in India are sexually harassed, beaten and brutalised, raped and murdered,
denied justice and basic human rights.”The memorial service for the girl, who
was brutally gang-raped and assaulted by six men in a moving bus in Delhi on
December 16, was organised by a social website group called Indian Solidarity
Group Anjali Tikoo, an active member of an Indian association against domestic
violence, said “the death of the young girl should not go waste. There is a
message and we must tell our daughters to fight like this brave—heart against
any assault or any oppression against women.”The community members also
observed a two-minute silence to pay their respect to the departed soul.A
memorial service was also being held in Sydney.
In London, NRIs, including teachers and housewives,
gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi Statue at Tavistock Square and raised slogans.
They held placards demanding an end to assault and rape cases in India.“Band
Karo Atyachar, save our sisters,” one of the placards read.From the Tavistock
Square, they marched to the Indian High Commmission in Adwych and submitted a
memorandum, urging the Government of India to introduce strict punishments for
rapists and introduce time-bound investigations and fast track courts to deal
with sexual assault cases. Councillor Sunil Chopra, General Secretary of the
Indian Overseas Congress (London), UK said the death of a gang rape victim “is
a shame not only for Delhi but for the whole of India.”“Justice should be done.
Culprit should be hanged to death or imprisoned for life so that no one can
dare to do these sort of things again. Her death should not be wasted and we
should learn a lesson from this tragedy. New law should be brought and
implemented in a stricter manner.”
Prof. John Kurakar
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