Some Mumbaikars not even aware of Kathua Rape Case?

Mumbai: At a time when the nation is on fire over the shocking Kathua rape incident and city’s youth are putting up posters of her alleged rapists at Matunga station, there still remain some people who are not even aware of the rape case of the eight-year-old child. And what is even more shocking is the stand that these people and some others are taking by labelling the protests a political stunt and demanding that the posters of accused be removed.

A commuter on a Mumbai local, who spoke to Free Press Journal, said, “In my view, this is nothing but a political stunt. I personally think that the posters of these men must be pulled down as they are yet to be convicted or proved as an accused in a court of law. Until a court declares them accused and convicts them, they must be construed as innocent and so their identity must not be disclosed like this.”

More than 20 posters were put up on the pillars of the Matunga Railway station with various messages written on them, like ‘Beti Bachao’, ‘Rape accused should be punished’, ‘Hang The Rapist’, ‘Kya yeh hai Bharat Ke Acche Din’ and many others. Some of the posters were torn and some are pasted on the staircase which can be seen by anyone, but still some commuters were not even concerned to see what they were regarding.

One of the workers of the stall at the station said nearly eight people aged around 20 to 22 were putting up the posters on Wednesday mid-night, but even them he didn’t bother to see what it is about. Though he is on phone watching videos and movies, but he was not aware of the Kathua rape case.

“I am not aware of any rape case incident. As I don’t read a newspaper and I am busy in my own world. But at night few people were pasting the posters when station manager called me to see who all are they, by the time we could catch them they ran away,” said Abhay Singh Chauhan, working at a stall on Matunga station.

Meanwhile, some of the commuters said although they have not seen any such poster in a train or at any station, they loved the fact that the alleged rapists’ faces were being exposed in public, instead of covering or shielding them.  “It is them who should be ashamed and not the girl. We are not sure whether the posters are legal or illegal, but if they are authentic, they should definitely be shown to the public,” said Raju Thakkar, a Malad resident, who was aboard a Churchgate-bound train.