On the heels of the terrifying death of a young woman gang-raped in Delhi, a Congress Party politician in Assam, accused of rape, was surrounded, stripped, and beaten by a crowd of women. Footage of the attack showed several women ripping of Bikram Singh Brahma's shirt and slapping him. A group of men later joined to hit him.
The aforementioned brutal death of a 23-year-old student sparked protests across India, a country known for delay of justice for rape victims and overall apathy about sexual abuse. According to the New York Times, gang rapes have become almost routine in India, a country that some surveys suggest has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world.
The widespread Indian mentality toward rape is embodied in the son of India's president Pranab Mukhergee, who said those protesting sexual abuse and rape were "middle-aged and caked in make-up," and also "dented and painted" women. Even his sister, Sharmishtha, condemned the remarks.
"It is definitely something that we as a family definitely don't agree with," she said. "It's not just one protests, it's accumulated rage over the way women are being treated, raped, molested...My father is absolutely with me on this."
He later apologized for his comments.
In the aftermath of the attack, India set up a special court for cases involving crimes against women. Under international and domestic pressure, Indian officials fast-tracked the arrest of five men and one juvenile to be charged with more than 50 pages of accusations including rape, murder, kidnapping, robbery, and assault. The government seems to have been caught off-guard by the public's anger. It's response to protests with water cannons, tear gas, and beatings was widely condemned.
The men are accused of attacking the victim and a male friend on a bus late at night on December 16, 2012, gang raping her for an hour and impaling her with a metal rod so savagely she sustained irreparable organ damage. Her male companion was also beaten and both were thrown out of the moving bus. She was flown to Singapore for treatment, but died two weeks later.
The aforementioned brutal death of a 23-year-old student sparked protests across India, a country known for delay of justice for rape victims and overall apathy about sexual abuse. According to the New York Times, gang rapes have become almost routine in India, a country that some surveys suggest has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world.
The widespread Indian mentality toward rape is embodied in the son of India's president Pranab Mukhergee, who said those protesting sexual abuse and rape were "middle-aged and caked in make-up," and also "dented and painted" women. Even his sister, Sharmishtha, condemned the remarks.
"It is definitely something that we as a family definitely don't agree with," she said. "It's not just one protests, it's accumulated rage over the way women are being treated, raped, molested...My father is absolutely with me on this."
He later apologized for his comments.
In the aftermath of the attack, India set up a special court for cases involving crimes against women. Under international and domestic pressure, Indian officials fast-tracked the arrest of five men and one juvenile to be charged with more than 50 pages of accusations including rape, murder, kidnapping, robbery, and assault. The government seems to have been caught off-guard by the public's anger. It's response to protests with water cannons, tear gas, and beatings was widely condemned.
The men are accused of attacking the victim and a male friend on a bus late at night on December 16, 2012, gang raping her for an hour and impaling her with a metal rod so savagely she sustained irreparable organ damage. Her male companion was also beaten and both were thrown out of the moving bus. She was flown to Singapore for treatment, but died two weeks later.
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