Following the recent case where 34 girls were raped in a shelter home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, hundreds of citizens protested against the mass sexual exploitation in central Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Saturday.
The protest organised by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) was attended by Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Member of Parliament D. Raja, and members of other opposition parties including the Congress.
Jawaharlal Nehru University ex-president Kanhaiya Kumar and ex-vice president Shehla Rashid were also present at the protest.
When asked if stricter laws or societal awareness and education would help in reducing rape cases, a protester, Manmeet Randhawa said: “Strict punishment and education must go hand-in-hand.”
Demanding immediate action against the accused of the mass rape, Brij Prijpruthy, another protester, said, “Even with education, there is no control. Unless the government wakes up, nothing will happen.”
Sanjay Bhartia, a city resident, said: “When there is education, people will understand. But strict laws will scare people.”
Madhavi Moira (52), said: “If kids do not understand our values, then crime will not stop. Hence, strict punishment is needed. Without that, crime will only repeat itself.”
‘Teach good values’
Nisa Satdaki (42) said that education is far more important than stricter laws. “When children are taught good values, they will share it with their friends. One day, their children will also learn the same good values,” she said.
Another protester said that parents must teach their children good values to ensure decrease in rape cases.
While many of the protesters differ on how to combat increasing rape cases in the country, they all protested with the same enthusiasm.