Mumbai mourns for Delhi gang-rape victim

Mumbai : Mumbai peacefully mourned for the Delhi gang-rape victim who died in a Singapore hospital early Saturday where she had been airlifted for treatment.

The death of the 23-year-old girl, who became the country’s face of courage, drew sharp reactions from Maharashtra political leaders and common people alike as thousands gathered at Mumbai’s Juhu beach to express their solidarity with the victim’s family.

Actress and activist Shabana Azmi walked in a silent protest march from Juhu beach to Kaifi Azmi Park. She later termed the victim’s death as a “clarion call” and urged people to not let the anger die down, but to channelise it for the purpose of bringing justice,

“We cannot let the anger pass. It will be a greater betrayal. We have to do some soul searching,” she said.

Activists of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party (AAP) held a peace march here and lamented the lack of appropriate machinery to tackle such heinous crimes.

“We will protest relentlessly till such time that speedy justice systems are created for abuse victims and such strong punishments are meted out that deter inhuman creatures amongst us from even considering such crimes,” an AAP spokesperson said.

A condolence meeting was held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athawale also expressed grief and shock of the woman’s death and urged party workers and Mumbaikars to not celebrate or party on New Year’s eve.

He appealed to people to participate in the candle march organised by the party from Colaba to Gateway of India in south Mumbai Dec 31.