Post date: Apr 20, 2013 1:27:49 PM
Protests escalate after the brutal rape and torture of a five-year-old girl who is battling for her life in India's national capital, months after the nationwide outrage over the gang-rape of a 23-year old girl in a moving bus in New Delhi.
NEW DELHI, INDIA (APRIL 20, 2013) (ANI) - Protests escalated after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl who is battling with life in India's national capital on Saturday (April 20), months after the nationwide outrage over the gang-rape of a 23-year old girl in a moving bus in New Delhi.
The girl, whose parents work as labourers and live in a slum in the outskirts of Delhi, went missing from home on April 15, according to Manish Sisodia, an official of theAam Aadmi Party which organised Friday's protest.She was found with bruise marks on her body in the suspect's house in a semi-conscious condition on Thursday (April 18) by police after her parents had registered a complaint, media reports said.
In New Delhi, both police and protestors held their positions outside the country's premium medical institute, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) where the minor is being treated for severe wounds and trauma.
Despite a public holiday on Friday (April 19), several hundred people gathered outside a municipal hospital in eastern Delhi, where the girl was admitted for treatment on Thursday (April 18).
Expressing anger over the incident, protesters said that the case dilutes the essence of anti-rape laws that remain effective only on paper.
"We as citizens thought that the protests held in December for the gang rape victim were the tipping point. People hoped for police reforms and change in mindset however, nothing happened. The Verma committee report that was prepared took into consideration all the details and was thorough. It was later diluted and nothing happened. What is the point of an anti-rape bill?," said Nisha Singh, a protester.
A panel set up in response to public outcry over the brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman has delivered its report outlining recommendations on how to tackle gender violence in the largely patriarchal country.
The panel, headed by former Chief Justice of India J.S. Verma, received over 80,000 responses from the public as well as women's rights groups, academics, gender experts and lawyers, compiling their suggestions into what commentators have described as a "path-breaking" and "progressive" report.
The anti-rape bill passed by the government didn't take into consideration the recommendations made by the Verma committee report, but diluted the report and passed the bill
Meanwhile, the crime had triggered a protest march in the national capital by the relatives of five year old rape victim and political activists, reawakening concerns about safety for women and girls.
According to DK Sharma, Medical Superintendent of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the victim's condition was stable and she was kept under observation.
"She was found to be having severe injuries in her perineum and required colostomy procedure to divert stools has been done. At present her general condition is stable and she has been kept under close observation and monitoring. She has been put on IV fluids and antibiotics. She is conscious, alert and all her parameters are within normal limit," he said.
Acting under pressure, police arrested the absconding key accused in the five-year old's rape case from India's eastern state of Bihar on Saturday (April 20).
The 25-year-old youth has been arrested from Muzaffarpur after police gathered input of him hiding in his in-laws village near Chiknouta.
The arrested man who is now in transit of being brought to New Delhi wore a cloth around his head, as police personnel whisked him away from the crowd of irate locals gathered outside the local court.
Deputy Commissioner of police of East Delhi, Prabhakar told reporters that the culprit had been nabbed and interrogation would begin soon.
"Today in the morning his transit remand has been acquired by the Delhi Police. We are trying to bring him to Delhi at the earliest and begin his interrogation," Prabhakarsaid.
Meanwhile, leader of India's Communist Party Of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Brinda Karat, told reporters in Visakhapatnam city of southern Andhra Pradesh state, that the society is neither safe for women nor children.
"The only question we can ask is, I mean India is so unsafe, not only for its women, but even for its children. What type of a society are we building, where even a little child of five years is considered an object for sexual gratification, I mean, where are we heading?," said Karat.
The girl's rape, which left her in a critical condition, revived memories of the brutal gang rape by five adult men and a teenaged boy of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student on a bus on December 16 in New Delhi. That woman died of her injuries.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office said in a statement that he was deeply disturbed by the latest incident. In December his administration had faced criticism for failing to respond to public anger over the horrific attack on the physiotherapy student.
The unprecedented protests by thousands of people across India eventually forcedSingh's government to pass tougher laws to fight gender crimes in March.
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 or "anti-rape law" passed in March puts in place a slew of new provisions and tougher punishments, which include criminalising voyeurism and stalking and making acid attacks and human trafficking specific offences.
But activists on Friday said the laws were not enough to deter sex offenders inIndia's largely patriarchal societies.