PUBLIC PROTESTS AFTER THE DEATH

After the woman's death on 29 December, protests were staged all over India, including Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai and Visakhapatnam. Many of the mourners carried candles and wore black dress; some pasted black cloth across their mouths. The following day a large number of people staged protests near Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. There were minor clashes between some groups of protesters and the police; the police then removed some protesters from the area. One group of protesters also observed a one-day hunger strike at Jantar Mantar. All roads leading to India Gate were closed by police and areas where protesters had gathered during the previous week were out of bounds to the public. Some of the protesters drew graffiti and slogans on papers spread on the road, condemning the incident and demanding stricter laws and speedy judgement. The main opposition party of India, the BJP, renewed its demand for a special parliament session to discuss the case and to adopt stricter laws on crime against women. New Year's celebrations were scaled down to a large extent, with the Indian armed forces and some clubs and hotels in Delhi cancelling their New Year parties.

The Indian protests also sparked protests across south Asia, including marches and rallies in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In Nepal, hundreds of demonstrators in Kathmandu called for legal reforms and an overhaul of attitudes to women. In Bangladesh the human rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) said the protests in Delhi had given fresh impetus to protests against sexual violence. According to an ASK spokesperson, "although previous demonstrations on similar issues were largely dominated by women, men were now protesting too. The protests had also drawn people from a broad range of society." In Paris, people participated in a march to the Indian embassy where a petition was handed over asking for action to make India safer for women. An author for the South Asia Analysis Group explained the protests as expressions of middle-class angst arising out of a collapse of a social contract between them and the liberal state.[126] New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among India's major cities. Police figures show a rape reported on average every 18 hours; reported rape cases rose by nearly 17 percent between 2007 and 2011. Only one of 706 rape cases filed in Delhi in 2012 ended in conviction. Between 16 December and 4 January, 501 calls for harassment and 64 calls for rape were recorded by the Delhi Police, but only four were followed up by inquiries. The regional program director for U.N. Women South Asia said, "There are rape cases in almost all cities and rural areas, where the victim dies immediately because of the brutality of the crime ... This time, it was like, 'Wake up.'"