India gang rape victim: Candlelight vigil to condemn violence against women

Activists demand a law against domestic violence in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD:

Human rights activists organised a candlelight vigil in Islamabad on Monday to show solidarity with the 23-year-old Indian woman who died on Saturday after suffering severe injuries in a gang rape attack.

The woman, a medical student, was attacked inside a bus in New Delhi on December 16. She died of organ failure at a hospital in Singapore. She had sustained internal injuries and brain damage during the act of brutality committed against her.

The protesters lit candles and chanted slogans to condemn violence against women. They observed a moment of silence for the victim and prayed for all victims of violence against women. They also demanded a law against domestic violence in Pakistan.

“Violence against women in any part of the world diminishes all of us, therefore we are here to show solidarity with the women of India,” Sameena Nazir, director of PODA, said. She said the media in India and Pakistan must play their role in reducing and stopping violence against women and girls and stop making violence attractive.

(Read: Gang rape death)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2013.