Artistes of Jamshedpur today said they would not perform for 10 days in protest against the gang-rape of five women in Khunti district earlier this week.
The memorandum was sent through East Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar by a delegation of artistes from various organisations under the banner of 'Jamshedpur Kalakaar Sangh'.
In the memorandum, they described the gang-rape of five women as "heinous and inhuman" and said artistes across the state were shocked by the incident.
Five women working with an NGO were allegedly raped at gunpoint by a group of at least five men when they had gone to Kochange village under Arki police station area to create awareness on migration and human trafficking on Tuesday.
The artistes demanded that adequate security be provided to them during their performance to ensure that such incidents do not recur, the memorandum said.
They also demanded issuance of identity cards to the artistes.
The artistes appealed to their colleagues across the state to protest against the incident in all district headquarters.
The artistes of Jamshedpur held a meeting here yesterday and decided not to perform for 10 days.
Artistes from across the state would try to meet the chief minister in Ranchi on June 26 over the incident.
Khunti Superintendent of Police Aswini Kumar Sinha has said an FIR was filed on Thursday against unidentified persons involved in the gang-rape, another case was registered against the head of local school where the incident occurred.
The police have identified the culprits and eight people were detained in this connection, he said.
Initial investigation has found that the people behind 'Pathalgarhi' (a practice in which villagers inscribe various tenets on huge stone slabs and ban outsiders in their area), were behind the incident, Deputy Inspector General of Police Amol V Homker had said yesterday.
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