By IANS,
Gurgaon : Residents of Sector 15 Gurgaon Sunday organised a protest-walk to the office of the deputy commissioner, in solidarity with the gang-rape victim in Delhi. They demanded death penalty for the accused, and raised issues of policing in Gurgaon.
The marchers were led by retired professor Usha Dahiya, and the group later submitted a memorandum to Sub Divisional Magistrate Vivek Kalia.
“Women in Gurgaon face several problems in daily life. The law and order situation in the city is much poorer than Delhi,” Usha Dahiya said.
She added: “There have been too many incidents of rape and gang-rape in the city. Lack of public transport here is a problem, and women are forced to take cabs, which makes molestation routine.”
People from different walks of life came together for the walk, and many children joined their parents as they walked silently from IFFCO Chowk metro station to Sahara Mall on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon (MG) Road. Many of the marchers carried banners.
Shalini Venugopal, one of the protestors, said: “This was the least we could do, for the safety of women.”
“The lack of policing, the poor state of street lighting… all these are causing an increase in crime against women in the city,” Venugopal said, adding that the large number of female foeticides in the state needs to be checked too, to bring about greater parity in the numbers of men and women.
Some children were seen holding up a simple banner that spoke volumes: “I want to be safe.”