Mumbai, Is India no longer safe for children, wonder Bollywood film celebrities like Farhan Akhtar and Riteish Deshmukh, expressing anger over the gang rape and assault of an eight-year-old schoolgirl in Madhya Pradesh.
The child was abducted while she was waiting for her father outside her school on Tuesday. She was gang raped, her throat slit and left to die.
A day later, the Madhya Pradesh Police arrested Irfan alias Bhaiyu, 20, a labourer, on the basis of CCTV footage, followed by the arrest of another construction worker in the case. Both were booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Here’s what celebrities, disheartened and disturbed by such incidents of crimes against children, tweeted:
Riteish Deshmukh: Nothing angers me more than this. A 7 year old is kidnapped and gang raped. Enough is enough. The culprits should be flogged and hanged publicly.
Farhan Akhtar: Given the alarming frequency and the sheer perversion of the crime, one must ask… Is our country no longer safe for children?
Swara Bhaskar: Shameful and horrifying news from Mandsaur where a child was gang raped and brutalised. Glad to note that leaders have assured a speedy trial. These monsters deserve the harshest punishment.
Esha Gupta: I am sorry little girl. Sorry this country isn’t safe for you. Sorry these men don’t see you as a God’s child that you are. Sorry that the people are seeing just politics in this, but not the love that you are.
Richa Chadha: How can anyone do this to another human being, let alone a child? Depravity! Kudos to Mandsaur Superintendent of Police for nabbing the culprit within the day and to Yunus Shaikh for announcing the accused will get no burial.
Vishal Dadlani: Ain’t it amazing? Instead of questioning the government about the disgusting Mandsaur rape, right-wing heroes only e-question those who demanded justice for Kathua and Unnao? By the way, has BJP taken out rapist-bachao rallies in Mandsaur yet? They did, in Kathua.
Shruti Seth: Instead of name calling shouldn’t we all unanimously condemn all rapes and every rapist? How about committing ourselves to keeping every child of our country safe from crimes. It’s a fight we must fight together.
