The country’s response to horrific rape and murder of an 8 year old girl at Kathua and rape of another minor girl at Unnao shows that people of India still care for its fellow citizen. Candle-light marches have been held in half a dozen cities as public outrage over a spate of rape and murder of children spirals. Over the last two weeks, two cases have shaken the nation. Last Sunday, a 16-year-old, who was allegedly raped by a BJP lawmaker in Unnao, tried to commit suicide outside UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s house.
The tipping point was the rape and murder of an 8-year-old in Kathua, where the chargesheet spoke of unspeakable brutality. A third — the death of a 9-year-old girl in Surat, whose body was covered in 80 wounds — emerged this morning. The act of holding national flag while rallying in support of rapists at Kathua angered the whole nation. From politicians to Bollywood actors, sportspersons, businessmen every one strongly reacted against those trying to protect the rapists. The backlash forced two BJP ministers in Jammu and Kashmir government who had participated in a rally for the support of rapists to resign. The victim in Kathua incident was from minority Muslim community and perpetrators hailed from majority Hindu community. Section of people under Hindu Ekta Manch tried to give communal colour to the incident. But overwhelming majority of Hindus rejected the move and are rooting for the justice of victim. This is the India we are proud of where people from every walk of life are treated equally. Once again India has defeated the bigoted ideology by standing firm against fringe group like Hindu ekta manch.