The death of a 23-year-old rape victim has sparked an outpouring of grief and anger in India, with Sonia Gandhi, leader of the ruling Congress party, making a rare televised address promising justice.
Thousands of people gathered for candlelight vigils in major Indian cities after the young woman, who survived for 13 days after she was gang-raped and brutalised with an iron rod on a New Delhi bus, died in a Singapore hospital early on Saturday.
The young woman’s body was brought back to India on Sunday morning, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Ms Gandhi were present to receive the body and meet her family. The woman was cremated in a private ceremony.
From India’s most powerful politicians to its most famous Bollywood stars to young students, Indians expressed their sorrow and anger at the death of the young woman, the savage nature of the crime and the social tolerance of pervasive violence against women.
“What is required is deep soul-searching – for each segment of society to try to analyse and reflect what is it about us that allows this mindset to be created,” Shabana Azmi, one of India’s most accomplished actresses, said. “All of us are culpable.”
The attack propelled the issue of violence against women to the top of India’s national agenda, leading to protests and calls for an overhaul of the criminal justice system. Six men have been charged with her murder.
As she battled for life in the days after the attack, the victim – about whom no religious or caste details were revealed to the public – came to be seen as the embodiment of all young urban Indian women, many of whom say they face routine sexual harassment, either verbal or physical, in public spaces, such as buses.
In recognition of the intense passions the case has generated, Ms Gandhi made a rare televised address in English on Saturday, pledging the young woman “will get justice and her fight will not have been in vain”.
Ms Gandhi said the young woman’s courageous battle to live, despite her horrific injuries, “deepens our determination to battle the pervasive, shameful social attitudes and mindset that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such impunity”.
The Congress-led government has promised a swift trial for the young woman’s six alleged attackers, who will now confront the charge of murder – a crime that carries the potential death penalty.
In the wake of the attack, the government has appointed a judicial commission to consider stronger laws against sexual harassment and rape, how to more effectively prosecute rapists, and the possibility of harsher punishment for rape. Another retired judge has been asked to recommend broad measures to improve women’s safety in cities.
However, women’s activists say that improving women’s treatment will also require major change in social attitudes.
The young physiotherapist was attacked on December 16, while returning home after watching a movie with a male friend in an upmarket shopping mall.
The woman was repeatedly raped, brutalised and badly beaten with an iron rod, then thrown from the bus. In a last-ditch effort to save her life after 10 days of trying to stabilise her, the Indian government arranged for her on Wednesday night to be airlifted to Singapore, where she finally succumbed to her injuries.
Gaurav Kapur, a popular DJ and actor, said young Indian men have long turned a blind eye to the pervasive harassment, and discrimination, against women – but that the easy tolerance of such conduct had to stop.
“We are part of the problem,” he said. “We look away and say, ‘it doesn’t affect me’. We have to stop looking away.”
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Thousands of people gathered for candlelight vigils in major Indian cities after the young woman, who survived for 13 days after she was gang-raped and brutalised with an iron rod on a New Delhi bus, died in a Singapore hospital early on Saturday.
The young woman’s body was brought back to India on Sunday morning, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Ms Gandhi were present to receive the body and meet her family. The woman was cremated in a private ceremony.
From India’s most powerful politicians to its most famous Bollywood stars to young students, Indians expressed their sorrow and anger at the death of the young woman, the savage nature of the crime and the social tolerance of pervasive violence against women.
“What is required is deep soul-searching – for each segment of society to try to analyse and reflect what is it about us that allows this mindset to be created,” Shabana Azmi, one of India’s most accomplished actresses, said. “All of us are culpable.”
The attack propelled the issue of violence against women to the top of India’s national agenda, leading to protests and calls for an overhaul of the criminal justice system. Six men have been charged with her murder.
As she battled for life in the days after the attack, the victim – about whom no religious or caste details were revealed to the public – came to be seen as the embodiment of all young urban Indian women, many of whom say they face routine sexual harassment, either verbal or physical, in public spaces, such as buses.
In recognition of the intense passions the case has generated, Ms Gandhi made a rare televised address in English on Saturday, pledging the young woman “will get justice and her fight will not have been in vain”.
Ms Gandhi said the young woman’s courageous battle to live, despite her horrific injuries, “deepens our determination to battle the pervasive, shameful social attitudes and mindset that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such impunity”.
The Congress-led government has promised a swift trial for the young woman’s six alleged attackers, who will now confront the charge of murder – a crime that carries the potential death penalty.
In the wake of the attack, the government has appointed a judicial commission to consider stronger laws against sexual harassment and rape, how to more effectively prosecute rapists, and the possibility of harsher punishment for rape. Another retired judge has been asked to recommend broad measures to improve women’s safety in cities.
However, women’s activists say that improving women’s treatment will also require major change in social attitudes.
The young physiotherapist was attacked on December 16, while returning home after watching a movie with a male friend in an upmarket shopping mall.
The woman was repeatedly raped, brutalised and badly beaten with an iron rod, then thrown from the bus. In a last-ditch effort to save her life after 10 days of trying to stabilise her, the Indian government arranged for her on Wednesday night to be airlifted to Singapore, where she finally succumbed to her injuries.
Gaurav Kapur, a popular DJ and actor, said young Indian men have long turned a blind eye to the pervasive harassment, and discrimination, against women – but that the easy tolerance of such conduct had to stop.
“We are part of the problem,” he said. “We look away and say, ‘it doesn’t affect me’. We have to stop looking away.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.