Women vow to fight sex crimes in Delhi

Delhi, 27 April 2013: Some 4,000 women in New Delhi took a pledge on Friday to fight the increasing incidents of sex crimes against women in the national capital.

Last week, a five-year-old was raped in New Delhi, triggering protests across the country. Newspapers have reported several incidents with statistics saying a new case is reported every 20 minutes in the country.

New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among India’s major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures.

The women, who came from the villages in and around the national capital, pledged to prevent any kind of violence in their surroundings and spread awareness about their rights to others in their community.

Mukta Toppo of the Delhi Catholic Council of India administered the oath to the gathering organized by Chetnalaya (enlightenment), the social service wing of the Delhi archdiocese inside Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi, reported UCA News.

“I will mobilize people in my area so that such heinous crimes are not repeated. The public will have to stand for their rights if the government does not act against such culprits,” said Frida (goes by one name), who came from Narela village near New Delhi.

The women are part of the Self Help Groups initiated by Chetnalaya to empower village women and the gathering marked the Self Help Group Day.

Their day-long program, which included dance and drama, focused on the increasing crimes against women in the country.

“If we keep quiet, nobody will speak for us. We will have to take the initiative and identify the negative elements in our society,” said Deepika Rani, a 38-year-old woman from Bhalsawa village. Women should become aware of the dangers facing them and their daughters, she said.

Some women like Parveen Khan from Jahangirpuri in the national capital said that most often mothers discourage girls from reporting rapes to police because of the social stigma attached to it. “We have to change that so that the culprits are booked,” she added.

The initiative aimed to strengthen women, said Father Savari Raj, director of Chetnalaya. "This is just a drop in the ocean. A lot still needs to be done to make the society safe for women,” he told ucanews.com.

Auxiliary Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Delhi addressed the gathering describing rape as a sin and said that religion and religious leaders have a major role to play in preventing such heinous crimes.

He said Indians still hold religion important and they listen and respect religious leaders. Religious leaders should help fight crimes against women. “Law alone will not help solve the problem,” he added.Source: UCAN