Demonstrations were held against the Pollachi sexual abuse case at different locations in Vellore on Thursday. Lawyers, students and women activists who took part in the protests demanded that strict punishment be meted out to the culprits. The State police was lethargic in handling the case, they charged.
More than 300 students of Voorhees College, Vellore, staged a sit-in protest inside their college premises and shouted slogans demanding security for women, especially when they were away from their homes. They said that schools, colleges and work places should give them a confidence to work with men.
Advocates practising in the Combined Courts in Vellore led by J. Kanchana Arivazhagan, president of Women Advocates Association, boycotted the courts and staged a demonstration in front of their offices demanding death sentence for the accused.
They also sought a detailed probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation to bring other culprits to book.
At a protest organised at Anna Arangam in Vellore, members of the All India Trade Union Congress Working Women Forum organiser M. Saroja spoke about the role played by the media in bringing the case to light.
Crime against women should be dealt with seriously and severe punishment including death sentence should be considered to teach a lesson to the perpetrators, she said.