Indian-Americans protest against Kathua, Unnao rapes

Washington, April 19

Indian-Americans, including women and children, raising slogans like "Hate murder, hate crime: no more. no more" held peaceful protests in front of the Indian Embassy against the gang rape and murder of young girls in Kathua and Unnao, demanding swift justice.

They displayed banners and posters seeking justice for the minor girl who was gang-raped and murdered in Jammu & Kashmir's Kathua.

They were also protesting the rape of a teenage girl in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao. The young girl has alleged that a lawmaker had raped her last summer.       

Scores of Indian-Americans, including women and children, turned up for a peaceful protest at the Gandhi Statue in front of Indian Embassy in Washington to express their "outrage and disgust" over the gang-rape and murder of the young girls in Kathua and Unnao.

"As the father of the minor girl has demanded, the case should be moved out from the Jammu High Court as there is not a conducive environment for a fair trial," said Syed Ashraf on behalf of Alliance for Justice and Accountability, which organised the protest outside the Indian mission here.

The protestors raised slogans "Hate Murder, hate Crime: No more. No More."

"India should strengthen laws for rape against minors, and against women. They should also strengthen laws against hate crime," Ashraf said noting that the response from the prime minister was little too late.

"Silence does not help, when nation is on fire and people are traumatised," he said.

In a memorandum submitted to the Indian Ambassador, the Indian American Muslim Council urged that the Indian Government should do much more in protecting innocent children and minority girls from the fangs of caste based or communal politics.

In a separate statement, the Federation of Indian American Christian Organisations (FIACONA) condemned the horrific rape and murder of a child.        

"The details of rape and sexual assault cases being reported in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir which saw the seven-year-old Muslim girl brutally raped and killed, and Unnao, Uttar Pradesh where the victim was a teenager preyed upon by a state legislator, are shocking," Hindu American Foundation said in a statement.

"Rape flies in the face of Hindu values, and thus compels us to offer condolences and compassion to victims and their families, and simultaneously work to ensure that the law and law enforcement work impartially and efficiently to deliver justice," it said.

"The barbarity and the bestiality involved in the killing of this little girl show the depraved and criminal mindsets of those who perpetrated such heinous acts. The ghastly way this girl was raped and murdered has indeed shaken the nation to its core and terrorised the people of conscience across the world," said Indian Overseas Congress in a statement. PTI