Several Boston-based support groups joined hands to organise a candlelight vigil near Harvard University in the memory of the Delhi gangrape victim, condemning the brutal crime and calling for measures to ensure safety for women. About 100 people participated in a candlelight vigil and protest and observed a minute of silence for the 23-year-old student who was gangraped in a moving bus in New Delhi on December 16 and succumbed to her severe injuries after battling for life for nearly two weeks.

People held signs that read 'India won't progress if our women we oppress', 'Rape is a crime against humanity' and 'Zero tolerance for sexual abuse'.

The vigil was organised on January 1 by the Boston South Asia Center in association with support group Saheli, Association for India's Development (Boston), Survivor Theatre Project, India Against Corruption-Boston, Indian American Muslim Council and Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia.

Boston South Asia Center's Hardeep Mann condemned sexual violence against women and called for more conversation by the Indian society to seek a permanent solution to the crisis.

Saheli pledged that violence against women should never be tolerated.