We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
MUMBAI POLICE TODAY arrested the fifth and final member of a gang suspected of raping a photographer, a crime that reignited anger about women’s safety in India following a similar attack last year.
The latest arrest came as the victim’s family urged the nation, including the media, to continue to fight for justice “for all those victims and their families” who have gone through “the same hell as we have”.
The family said it was “optimistic” their daughter’s case would be fast -tracked and the “severest of punishments” handed down to those responsible, because of ongoing campaigns and a tougher sex crime law introduced earlier this year.
“This will ensure that even the most sick-minded think twice before they act in such an inhuman and insensitive way,” it said in a statement.
The group allegedly trapped and repeatedly raped the woman, said to be in her early 20s, on Thursday in an abandoned mill in an upmarket district of central Mumbai, where she was on assignment for a magazine.
The attack rekindled memories of the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in New Delhi in December. That crime sparked nationwide protests and brought to the surface seething anger about violence against women in India.
The outrage led to a tougher anti-rape law that included increased punishment for sex offenders, who face the death penalty if a victim dies, and a broader definition of sexual assault.
A protest in Mumbai today (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Today a Mumbai police team arrested the fifth suspect in New Delhi over the brutal attack in which the woman’s male colleague was allegedly tied up with a belt and the woman attacked nearby.
“Our crime branch team arrested the fifth suspect from New Delhi earlier Sunday and he is being brought back to Mumbai,” a police official, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
The woman, reportedly an intern, is undergoing treatment at Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital, where staff said she was steadily improving.
“She is eating normally and her medical parameters are in control,” the acting head of the hospital said in a statement.
Protests
The fifth suspect was tracked down after the arrest of four others since Friday, all in Mumbai. One arrested early on Sunday was identified by the Press Trust of India as Kasim Bangali.
Two of the suspects, their faces covered by black cloth, were remanded in police custody until August 30 after appearing in a Mumbai court tidat. On Saturday, two other suspects were also remanded in police custody.
The attack, which dismayed a city seen as far safer for women than the capital, sparked protests in Mumbai and uproar in the national parliament.
Indian journalists place candles around cameras protesting against the gang rape of the photographer during a vigil in Bangalore last night. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
The woman was attacked while she was taking photos of the abandoned Shakti Mills factory compound next to a fashionable area of apartment and office blocks, shops and restaurants, police said.
They said the victim and her male colleague were approached by some men and told they should not be there, before being attacked.
The woman’s family pleaded with the media for privacy as they try to recover from this “nightmarish phase”, saying:
We hope and pray you will empathise and adhere to our humble request while continuing your support for justice, not just for my daughter but for all those victims and families who have gone through the same hell as we have.
The woman was earlier quoted by The Times of India as saying “rape is not the end of life” and she wanted to return to work.
The incident comes eight months after the student was gang-raped in a moving bus in New Delhi, while her male companion was beaten up. She died two weeks later from severe injuries.
A trial is in its final stages in that case, which sparked massive and sometimes violent protests.
It prompted soul- searching about whether India can protect its women, in a country where fear of social stigma, a hostile police reaction and an inadequate judicial process mean many sexual assaults go unreported.
Since the December incident, dozens of rapes of women — including foreign tourists — have been highlighted in the media.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
One the plus side if you are paying rent and childcare at the moment and are waiting for the government to sort it out; you can actually survive for a pretty long time on baked beans and seaweed. So, every cloud…
A very thorough article highlighting the huge issue of childcare in Ireland. My son is starting creche in July, I was very lucky to get him a place through sheer persistence. I was on 22 waiting lists & now it’s going to cost more than our mortgage. The government needs to do A LOT more to help parents
I think childcare costs vary massively outside of Dublin. I know some people paying €150 pw in the west and others paying €800pw in Dublin. The whole thing needs complete overhaul and needs to be regulated and subsidized so it’s affordable for parents and worthwhile for the Childminder.
@Edward Reid: I am aware of a childminder who is minding 4 children. One toddler from early morning and 1 child from 12.30 and two older children from 2 and 3pm respectively. Drop offs and pick ups are required. Children minded in their own home. 7/8 hour days. She is getting a daily rate of 50 euro per day. No breaks during the day, no paid annual leave, no paid sick leave. Parents decide on days required each week. If they don’t need the childminder she doesn’t get paid. Parents complain of lack of child care services but when families have very qualified child care services they under value it completely. Needs complete overhaul
@Sinead O Donnell: If she’s minding the kids in their own home then the parents are her employer and have all of the fun legal obligations that come with that.
If she’s paid €50 a day that seems lower than minimum wage for a start (I don’t know her hours)
It’s not really the system that is wrong there. It’s that she’s getting paid cash in hand (I’m assuming there) and this is absolving her of her rights and the parents of their obligations.
https://www.revenue.ie/en/life-events-and-personal-circumstances/children/registering-child-minders-as-employees.aspx
@Michael O’Neill: I agree with most of the content of your reply. Unfortunately as she minds kids in their home, she cannot register as self employed and as she is not a live in nanny, the childrens parents are exempt from revenue obligations. In this case the child minder falls within the cracks of a very inefficient system.
Genuine question, (I don’t have children), Why is Childcare so darn expensive in Ireland? Is it due to cost of insurance, lack of state investment, lack of pricing regulations, rental costs, or privatized bjg profit making creches?? I would love to know the breakdown of overheads for running a creche in a city for example.
@Ang: all of the reasons you gave with the exception of big profits. Most childcare facilities run by individuals spend far more time on filling out forms, register children , trying to get answers to queries and the such like out of hours than they do actually looking after children.
@Ang: it is so expensive mainly because insurance in Ireland is fully monopolised and is operating as a cartel. At the moment there is only 1 company that provides insurance to children in creches. Its something around 900 per child.
Also the government never heard of the word “childcare”.
have your say