A few weeks ago 8 suspects went on trial over the gang rape and murder of an 8 year old girl in Indian administered Kashmir. The girl was kidnapped, drugged and repeatedly raped over five days, including inside a Hindu temple, before being strangled and beaten with a rock. After Hindu lawyers were seen trying to stop the police from filing charges there were protests all over the country seeking to end sexual violence against women in India. The lawyer representing the family was also threatened to be killed and raped herself. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party, resigned for attending a rally by local Hindu groups in defence of the accused. Unfortunately this has been an on going issue in India I have learned from representing India in the Eco Soc group for model UN. I very much hope that these protests bring some awareness to the issue and start to bring some reforms to the justice system.
