City mourns, seeks death for Delhi girl’s rapists

Emotions ran high in Pune city following the death of the Delhi gangrape victim with people from all sections of society holding protests and rallies, and seeking the harshest possible punishment for the perpetrators. The protests were peaceful but the anger was evident.

While most people, including some women tourists, said death penalty should be swiftly dealt out, some citizens felt that even this punishment would be mild. They went to the extent of saying they "should be castrated".

As news of the 23-year-old paramedical student — who was gangraped, brutalised and thrown out of a bus — losing her battle for survival in a Singapore hospital spread, students, political parties and individuals came out on the streets, and a group of women bikers held a bike-rally in the city.

Political parties also held protests and the Shiv Sena carried out a mock funeral procession of the UPA government. The Pune unit of India Against Corruption (IAC) held a candlelight march and a prayer meeting.

Several other political parties, NGOs and housing societies staged protests to vent their ire. There was also an outpouring of anger on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Baljeet Singh, who participated in the rally organised by Bikernis, a group of female bikers, said, "We organised a silent bike-rally demanding a speedy trial and quick verdict. Through placards and posters, we demanded death penalty for those who committed this heinous crime."

Deepak Bharadia, co-ordinator, IAC, said, "We staged a sit-in, lighted candles and prayed for the deceased. We also encouraged the 250-odd participants to come up with ideas that could be sent to the Justice Varma Committee that is working on strengthening anti-rape laws."

Surabhi Chatterjee, a student of SP College, said there was a need to change the mindset of men towards women and demanded death penalty for those who gangraped the girl in a moving bus in Delhi.

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