Delhi gangrape: Indians abroad hold candle light vigil for the victim

WASHINGTON/MELBOURNE: Indian diaspora in the US, Australia and the UK held candle light vigils for the 23-year-old gang-rape victim in Delhi, demanding stern punishment for the culprits and fast track courts to deal with sexual assault cases.

Braving chilly weather, Indian-Americans gathered at the Gandhi Statue in Washington and held a candle light vigil for the girl, who died yesterday in Singapore after battling for life for 13 days.

"Delhi bus incident is our ' Rosa Parks bus incident'. Hopefully we will discuss gender violence more and do some...thing about it," a group of Indian-Americans, who held the candle light vigil last night, said on their Facebook page, especially created for the occasion.

In Melbourne, a large group of Indian men and women gathered in front of the Indian Consulate and lit candles to express their outrage over the incident.

Expressing her anger and grief over the loss of the young girl's life, lawyer Navjeet Jhaji said the Indian government should take stern actions against the culprits. "There should be freedom for the women to just move out freely on the streets."

Ravi Bhatia, a community leader, said sexual violence was an all too common occurrence in India. "Tens of thousands of women in India are sexually harassed, beaten and brutalised, raped and murdered, denied justice and basic human rights."

The memorial service for the girl, who was brutally gang-raped and assaulted by six men in a moving bus in Delhi on December 16, was organised by a social website group called Indian Solidarity Group.