Delhi students protest over women’s safety after alleged gang rape

Hundreds of students took to the streets in Delhi on September 23 to demand greater safety for women after a 17-year-old girl alleged that she had been gang-raped by three men posing as police officers at a park in the Indian capital earlier this week, according to Reuters.

Police shot and apprehended one of the suspects on September 22 and were questioning two others, who are brothers, senior police officer Vijay Kumar told reporters after the teenager reported the alleged assault.

The protest was held on the evening of September 23 on the streets near the scene of the alleged crime. Most of the demonstrators were women, with several wearing face masks as they marched, held placards and chanted slogans calling for greater protection for women.

“Our body is our own,” some of the placards read, while others called for women to be able to go out at night without fear.

The alleged assault took place just 2 km (1.2 miles) from Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College, one of India’s leading women’s colleges. The institution suspended classes on September 22 after the suspect was shot just metres from its campus.

“Some students were panicking after the shooting so we decided to suspend classes around noon,” a college official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

Sexual violence remains a serious problem in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, more than 80 cases are reported to police across the country every day.

A 2012 gang rape of a student in Delhi also sparked mass protests and led to sweeping legal reforms, including tougher penalties and faster court proceedings for such cases. However, Reuters noted that crime statistics have not improved since then.

By Jeyhun Aghazada