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Police commissioner's 'chilli powder' rape advice triggers outrage after attack
The Guardian - December 22, 2012
The comments by K.P. Raghuvanshi, the commissioner of police in Thane, a satellite city of Mumbai, fuelled widespread anger following the gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in Delhi on Sunday.
Ranjana Kumari, one of India's best known women's rights activists and the director of the Centre for Social Research in Delhi, was scornful of the suggestion.
"This is just a sexist sort of solution," she said. "They want women to stay at home. And how is chilli powder going to help against six or seven men?"
Kajol Batra, a 28-year-old student in the capital, called the suggestion "idiotic". "We should not be scared of going out and we shouldn't have to protect ourselves with cooking ingredients," she said.
Demonstrations triggered by the Delhi attack continued in India on Thursday, with protesters, mostly students, blocking a highway in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir to demand a death sentence for the six men accused of Sunday's attack, and vigils in some large cities.
The victim of the assault remains critically ill. It has emerged that she and her male friend lay naked and covered in blood for nearly an hour on the roadside where they had been dumped before police arrived. A crowd of about 50 people had gathered around them, officials said, but no one offered any assistance.
The debate in India on prevention of such incidents has largely focused on harsher punishments, more police resources and better monitoring of public transport. Ms Kumari suggested creating a sexual offenders register."Convicted attackers would not get jobs, or be able to rent homes, or buy property," she said.
Intense media interest in the incident has led to the reporting of other attacks that would usually never make headlines.
The body of a 10-year-old girl who police believe was gang-raped and killed was retrieved from a canal in the northern state of Bihar on Wednesday. Also in Bihar, a 14-year-old schoolgirl was in critical condition after she was raped by four men. In West Bengal, police were investigating the apparent abduction and rape of a 24-year-old woman near the town of Bagdogra.
Commentators have blamed such incidents on a variety of factors, ranging from rapidly evolving roles in a fast-changing economy, to a macho culture, particularly in the north of the country, which encourages men to believe rape is something to be proud of.
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