Mumbai gangrape: Scribes unite to demand stricter laws

Traffic crawled at Hutatma Chowk yesterday afternoon, as members of the media fraternity came together to protest against the gang rape of the 22-year-old photojournalist at Mahalaxmi.

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Enough is enough! Members of the Bombay News Photographers' Association carrying placards, chanting slogans, and demanding tougher laws against rape. Pics/Bipin Kokate

The demonstrators said that disrupting life or halting traffic was not their intention, but they wanted the state to start taking stringent measures and act accordingly. According to senior journalist Mrinalini Gore, the protest was to make the government realise that the public wanted strict rules to curb crimes against women.

"We want the government to wake up and act. It's not about a journalist being raped. It's about a girl, who was raped while she was out doing her job," said Gore.

Anger spills out on the roads
Over 100 journalists and photographers had gathered to protest against the incident. As part of the protest, groups of shutterbugs belonging to the Bombay News Photographers' Association walked from Azad Maidan to Hutatma Chowk with black bands covering their mouths.

Vilas Athavale, president of TV Journalist Association, said that if a journalist could not feel safe in the city, then how could a citizen feel secure.

"We have gathered to ask the government to provide us with some protection so that we can do our work without any hassles. The police department should be on their toes so that such incidents don't take place," said Athavale.

Another journalist, Mamta Chitnis Sen, said at the protest that there was an urgent need for gender sensitisation.

"This is important to ensure that such incidents are no repeated. We need to create an atmosphere that makes us feel secure and safe in this city," she said. u00a0