Another week, another horrific case of violence against women, this time in Kolkata. The Indian state of West Bengal is shuddering after the double crime of homicide and rape on two different women. It is bracing for demonstrations and arrests which have come fast and furious since the crimes were detailed by the press.
The demonstrations that have already taken place have turned violent, and 13 women activists were arrested since Thursday.
A demonstrator sums up the crowd's sentiment: "The state of women's security is terrible. It has been like that for a long time now, and we elected a new government for a reason. However, they are in complete denial of the situation and when you protest, this is what you get [meaning incarceration]."
The incident that sparked the latest unrest was a case of a 20 year old woman killed on her way home from college. She was kidnapped and dragged into a walled compound by several men, raped and then killed.
A few people have already been arrested, at least half a dozen, but police believe there are more criminals involved in the gruesome cae.
When the representative of the state's governor went to the victim's house, he was met with stone throwing and name calling, as locals are fed up with the authorities' inability to address the growing violence in the state.
A few days before this case, a 12 year old was also raped and killed in a village about 100 miles from Kolkata.
Many people blame Banerjee, and the Trinamool Congress, who were elected in 2011 after decades of communist rule in part just to tackle the problem of violence. Now however, she is seen as inept and unwilling to change the status quo and more importantly for being seemingly indifferent to the plight of women.
After all, Kolkata is where an Irish woman was gang raped a few weeks ago. After this incident the victim attempted suicide via an overdose of prescription drugs but was saved.
Source : The Independent / 6.14.13
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