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BANGALORE: This is the story of how a rape united Bangalore. On Saturday morning, thousands of citizens took to the streets protesting against the ghastly gang rape of a six-year-old girl in an east Bangalore school.

When over 3,000 people, mostly parents, marched from the school to the HAL police station, 6km away, Bangalore stopped for them. Nobody honked despite the heavy traffic jam. En route, people came out of their apartments and joined the walk. Some waved from their homes.

Volunteers distributed water. From a 60-year-old grandfather to a mother of a seven-month-old, they walked silently.

They were from different parts of the city. Some had taken leave from work; others had left their babies at home. There were techies, teachers, students, designers, lawyers, dancers. They were all worried about their little ones.

Hours after the rally, police announced they had taken into custody a sports trainer from the school on finding strong evidence against him. They also suspect an ayah who left the child in the dark room.

The show of solidarity surpassed anything Bangalore has seen in the recent past. Perhaps Anna Hazare’s protest at Freedom Park three years ago came close. But this march was far stronger, much bigger and more emotional. It was the middle-class Bangalorean — anguished, scared and frustrated — seeking justice for a child the adult world had let down.

"I have a daughter. I fear for her now. If I cannot trust the school, where else can I send her? It’s a shame," said Nidhi Tandon, a jewellery designer, echoing the crowd’s sentiment.

They held placards that sought tough punishment for the culprits — from capital punishment to cutting off the "raping tool". One read: "But I was not a toy, mamma." A chart held by a young girl said: "Our bodies are not your playground." Dolls and writing slates were held up.



Many protesters had painted their palms black. The protesters, mostly in black, walked silently.

By the time they reached the police station at 11.30am, the crowd broke out into slogans. Police asked them to assemble in a playground, which filled up within minutes.

The peaceful crowd began to stir up when politicians tried to hold forth at the ground.



Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavali and former MLA Nandish Reddy came on stage and spoke briefly. But nothing could take the limelight away from the parents and the citizens.

The crowd grew restless demanding to meet police commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar. No amount of cajoling from other senior police officials, including the joint commissioner (law and order) and an additional commissioner, could convince them. When the commissioner turned up after 90 minutes, he didn’t have much to offer them.

Unconvinced, the crowd returned. Their only satisfaction was that society had awakened and reacted.

 

ey carried placards that read "Enough is enough" and "We want justice," and walked more than 4 kilometers (2 miles) to one of the Bangalore’s main police stations.

Police said the girl was assaulted when she left her classroom to go to the restroom. They said she was recovering from the incident, but did not give further details.

The rape has raised questions about the safety of India’s schoolchildren and sparked nationwide outrage over rampant sexual violence against girls and women. The school has refused to take responsibility for the crime.



Angry lawmakers discussed the incident in the state assembly on Friday and demanded that the government of Karnataka of which Bangalore is the capital, punish the school principal and other administrators who allegedly tried to hush the matter.

The parents have said they will keep their children out of school until steps are in place to ensure their safety.

Police said eight members of the school’s staff had been detained for questioning. The protesters squatted outside a police station and refused to move until the city’s police chief assured them the suspects would be arrested.



Official statistics say about 25,000 rapes are committed every year in India, a nation of 1.2 billion people. Activists, though, say that number is just a tiny percentage of the actual number, since victims are often pressed by family or police to stay quiet about sexual assaults.

Indian officials, who for decades had done little about sexual violence, have faced growing public anger since the December 2012 fatal gang rape of a young woman on a moving New Delhi bus, an attack that sparked national outrage.

The nationwide outcry led the federal government to rush legislation doubling prison terms for rapists to 20 years and criminalizing voyeurism, stalking and the trafficking of women. The law also makes it a crime for officers to refuse to open cases when complaints are made.

Bangalore child rape survivor faces two medical tests

BANGALORE: In gross violation of norms governing child abuse cases, the child rape survivor was put through medical tests twice. The six-year-old was allegedly raped in her school on July 2. 

 On July 11, the child underwent the first medical test in a private hospital in Marathahalli. On July 15, police took the child to Vaidehi Medical College and Hospital for another test.

 "Police said the case would get stronger if the medical test was done in a hospital under their jurisdiction, which is ridiculous,’’ said a child-rights activist who is with the parents. No Child Welfare Committee (CWC) member was present at either test.

 Besides this, investigating officials took the %child and her mother to the school on Thursday night in an attempt to recreate the scene of crime. The Juvenile Justice Act mandates %that no child should be interrogated after 6pm.

 Clearly, the city police are not sensitized enough to handle the case. The child was taken to her school, accompanied by two inspectors in mufti and two policewomen, around 9pm.

 As they entered, the child was traumatized and insisted that she be taken back. But the policewomen cajoled the child, who led the team to the third floor where she was sexually assaulted.

 "It isn’t right for police to interrogate the child at night. We don’t approve of this," said Anita Shivakumar, chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee. Especially as the child had just returned from a counselling session at Nimhans.

 "As per the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act 2006, no child should be interrogated after 6pm," said Nagasimha G Rao, child rights activist and member of Child Rights Trust, a quasi-government organization.

 A CWC member should be present during the interrogation. "As per the POCSO Act, a helper or volunteer from a child rights NGO should be present. Everything should be in camera and videographed. Police have not bothered to take into account the child’s mental and physical health. Once the child was questioned, she should not be taken back to the police station. If officials have to meet the child again, it has to be a place the child likes and not a police station. Police have violated the child rights act," said Nagasimha.

 According to Anita, police should have informed the Child Welfare Committee within 24 hours of the case coming to their notice.

 Radha R of the special juvenile police unit, Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), says police also delayed filing the FIR on July 14. "Police were confused about which section they should file the case. The parents are finding it difficult to handle frequent calls from the police and have to question the child over and over again. They are trying to get over this experience," she added.