NEW DELHI (AFP) - Police shot dead a journalist during a protest over an assault on an actress in northeast India Sunday as security forces in New Delhi fired tear gas at new demonstrations over a student’s gang-rape.
After the victim of last Sunday’s gang-rape in Delhi began recounting her ordeal to police, a wave of revulsion over sex crimes spread to the remote state of Manipur where a protest was held over the attempted rape of an actress. A police spokesman told AFP that the 36-year-old cameraman, who was working for the national Doordarshan network, was “killed in police firing” while covering a protest which turned violent in the town of Imphal.
Police have yet to arrest anyone over the December 18 assault on the 22-year-old actress and model known as Momoko who has waived her right to anonymity and appeared on television to demand justice.
Momoko has said that a local militant dragged her away during a concert last week and then tried to rape her before she managed to fight him off and flee.
“We want a strong message to be sent that perpetrators of such crimes have no place in our society,” said Bala Bedi, a woman rights activists in Imphal who took part in Sunday’s protest. India has seen a string of protests across the country in the wake of the Delhi gang-rape which has shined the spotlight on the frightening incidence of violence against women in India.
National crime records show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were against women. Delhi has been dubbed the rape capital of India with government figures showing the number of rapes in the city rising 17 per cent to 661 this year. The government, stung by the mass protests and criticism that victims of assaults are often let down by India’s notoriously slow justice system, has said it is considering bringing in the death penalty for the most extreme rape cases.
Fearing more violent protests, police declared areas close to the president’s residence and the parliament off-limits on Sunday and detained those who defied the prohibitory orders. All the routes leading to landmark government buildings were cordoned off and metro stations in the vicinity were closed to the public.
However, several hundred protesters managed to breach the cordon around India Gate and braved tear gas and water cannons for the second day in a row.
One group of protesters camped overnight outside the residence of Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main ruling Congress party.
“I am with you... and justice will be delivered,” Gandhi told the protesters in an impromptu address after midnight.