Shivamogga: The rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl and that of a teenager in Unnao have sparked mass protests across the nation, with levels of public outrage not seen since the death of a young woman on a bus in 2012.
On Tuesday, hundreds of people demonstrated in Shivamogga in front of Bus stand circle, demanding that the government quickly prosecute rape suspects. Candlelight vigils were also held. The demonstration was led by Popular Front Of India (PFI).
The widespread demonstrations raise a question mark on the state of the country and how it treats its women and children – feeding off India’s perennial battles against corruption, religious tensions and gender-based violence.
They have also engulfed Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP party in an election year, with the party accused of trying to shield a state MP in one case and of defending the accused in the other.
The body of the eight-year-old girl, Asifya, was found earlier this year in Kathua, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
She was lured into the woods by her attackers, drugged, locked in a temple, gang raped for days and finally strangled.
The victim came from a nomadic Muslim community of shepherds, while her alleged attackers are Hindu men, including a local political fixer.
Last week a group of Hindu lawyers surrounded a court in Kashmir, claiming the eight suspects were being discriminated against because of their faith.
That sparked nationwide revulsion, with a social media campaign with tweets by members of the public holding up the words: “I am Hindustan. I am ashamed. #JusticeForOurChild #JusticeForAsifa. 8 years old. Gangraped. Murdered. In ‘Devi’-sthaan temple”, running into the tens of thousands.
In Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, a 16-year-old girl accused a ruling party politician of rape, along with his brother. After weeks of inaction, the victim tried to kill herself in front of the state chief minister’s house.
Her father went to file a complaint and died in police custody, leading to the suspension of several officers, pending investigations.
Sengar was eventually arrested after the Central Bureau of Investigation took the case out of state police hands, and now remains in custody.
