Jesuit activist roundly condemns Mumbai gang rape

August 26, 2013 - A leading Indian Jesuit rights activist has strongly and unequivocally condemned the gang rape of the photo-journalist in Mumbai Aug. 24. “All those responsible for this heinous and totally unacceptable deed must be brought to book immediately and be given exemplary punishment. The government, the police and other concerned authorities must ensure this,” said Fr. Cedric Prakash, the Director of “Prashant”, the Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace, based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. In a brief statement released on Sunday, the Jesuit priest lamented that “crimes against women continue to increase with impunity all over the country whether it be domestic violence or those committed by outsiders.” Recalling particularly the brutalization of women in the August 25, 2008 anti-Christian violence in Odisha and the Gujarat Carnage of 2002, Fr. Prakash noted the culprits often go scot-free, particularly when it comes to the poor, the marginalized, the dalits, the adivasis and minority women, there is hardly any ground-swell of protest from civil society or for that matter 24x7 media coverage. “A crime against any woman is a crime against humanity,” he stressed, urging all to “come together to ensure an immediate halt to this violence so that all our women, whatever their background, may feel safe and secure in any and every section of our society.” (Source: CCBI)