In a debate moderated by TIMES NOW's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, panelists -- Nirmala Sitharaman, Natl Spokesperson, BJP; TSR Subramanian, fmr Cabinet Secretary, UP; Vinod Mehta, Editorial Chairman, 'Outlook'; Soli Sorabjee, fmr Attorney General; Prasoon Joshi, Lyricist; Kiran Bedi, fmr IPS Officer; Bharatkumar Raut, Shiv Sena MP; and Shazia Ilmi, Member, Aam Admi Party -- discuss the issue of the 23 yr old victim of the brutal gang rape and assault in Delhi succumbing to injuries in Singapore, protests cross the country by the people, and wheter the political class should now speak for fasttracking the rape laws in India, and if India's Politicians and Police lost touch with the ground reality.
The 23 yr old victim of the brutal gang rape and assault in Delhi that had triggered an outrage across India died on Sat (Dec 29) in Singapore after putting up a brave battle for life for nearly a fortnight. The girl was raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus by six men in Delhi on Dec 16 and thrown out along with her companion. The beastial attack on the girl and her male friend in the bus had sparked off protests by students and women activists. Death for rapists was one of the demands of the protesters and the victim's demise could trigger fresh display of emotions on the streets. Thousands of people cutting across ages and social strata on Dec 29 took to the streets in peaceful marches and protests across the country to mourn the death of the gangrape victim. Hundreds of protesters, seething in rage and anguish, demanded capital punishment for the rape accused while others sought justice. Mourners, many of them carrying candles and black clothes pasted across their mouths, marched along the main thoroughfares of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore and several other parts of the country. As an outraged nation empathised with the gangrape victim, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said the fight of nation's "beloved daughter" will not go in vain, promising "swift and fitting punishment" to perpetrators as well as stringent laws for women protection. PM Manmohan Singh condoled the death of the Delhi gangrape victim and expressed the hope that the entire political class and civil society will set aside narrow sectional interests and agenda to make India a demonstrably safer place to live in. Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit faced public rage when she was forced to returnfrom Jantar Mantar where she went to take part in mourning the death of the gang-rape victim.Dikshit reached Jantar Mantar where around 500 people gathered for mourning the death of the girl at around 2 pm but had to beat a hasty retreat as enraged protesters circled and forced her to return. The CM and the police tried to reason with the protesters and allow her to be part of the gathering but the demonstrators were in no mood to oblige.