Dawn News, Pakistan
written by AFP staff
Sunday March 15, 2015
KOLKATA - Police in eastern India said on Saturday they were investigating the gang-rape of a 71-year-old nun by burglars who broke into the convent school where she lived.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the alleged attack on Friday night, when 12 men broke into the convent in West Bengal state.
“A preliminary investigation has revealed that a nun at the school was gagged and gang-raped,” police inspector general Anuj Sharma said.
“Two people have so far been arrested,” he said, adding that the nun was recovering in hospital.
Local residents took to the streets in anger, shouting slogans demanding action and blocking off the main highway.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted her condemnation of what she called a “horrific attack”, promising “swift, strongest action”.
The incident came at a time of heightened sensitivity over women’s safety in India, which last week banned a documentary about the 2012 gang-rape of a student in Delhi that sparked mass protests.
Authorities said screening the documentary could have caused public disorder, but critics accused the government of being more concerned with the country’s reputation than the safety of its women.
Also read: Professor stirs uproar after India ‘rape problem’ remarks
The December 2012 gang-rape of a young physiotherapy student, who cannot be named, highlighted the frightening level of violence against women in the world’s second most populous country and triggered mass protests.
It led to a major reform of India’s rape laws, speeding up trials and increasing penalties, although many campaigners say little has changed for women on the ground.
The number of reported rape cases is rising in India. We look at some of the solutions to stop crime against women. http://t.co/X8iLw9xdmH
— Deborah Kan (@debkhk) March 16, 2015
Dawn News, Pakistan
written by AFP staff
Monday March 16, 2015
KOLKATA - Thousands are expected to join a rally led by priests in India's Kolkata later Monday in support of a 71-year-old nun who was gang-raped at her convent school, the city's archbishop said.
The rape by a gang of robbers late on Friday is the latest in a series of high-profile sexual assaults in India that have intensified outrage over high levels of violence against women.
“We expect three to four thousand people to attend the rally. In fact we have asked all the city parishes to join the rally,” Archbishop of Kolkata Thomas D'Souza told AFP.
“We also expect common people to participate and express their solidarity to the victim.”
The archbishop stressed the rally was not aimed at condemning any political party over the attack, which comes amid concern in India's Christian community at a spate of recent attacks mostly on churches.
Priests and other Christian leaders have blamed those attacks on religious hardliners who have become emboldened since Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept to power at general elections last year.
D'Souza said hymns and prayers for the nun would be encouraged at the rally, which would culminate in a candlelit vigil on Monday evening.
The nun, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked after the robbers ransacked the convent school at Ranaghat, 70 kilometres from Kolkata, and stole cash and other items.
The woman, who needed surgery from injuries suffered during the attack, is recovering in a hospital in Ranaghat.
Police have detained eight men for questioning but no arrests have been made even though the faces of some of the attackers were captured on CCTV footage.
The incident adds to a grim record of sexual assaults in India. It comes amid raging debate over the banning of a documentary about a December 2012 gang-rape in New Delhi that sparked national and international outrage.
The attack has also intensified fears among the Christian minority after a series of vandalism and arson attacks on institutions mostly in Delhi since December.
Modi in February pledged a crackdown on religious violence and freedom of worship for all faiths in the wake of the attacks.
Modi had been strongly criticised for not speaking out earlier, despite growing concern at the actions of Hindu hardliners including a spate of mass “re-conversions” of Christians and Muslims to Hinduism.
Around 80 per cent of India's 1.2 billion population is Hindu but it is also home to large numbers of Muslims, Christians and Buddhists.
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