Anguish and anger over gangrape justified: Ansari

Vice-president Hamid Ansari on Monday said last month's brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old student in the capital made people of the country hang their heads in shame.

Vice-president Hamid Ansari on Monday said last month's brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old student in the capital made people of the country hang their heads in shame.

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He said the anger that followed was justified and it should now be translated into "correctiveness" in laws and social behaviour.

Ansari said one must remember that full respect for human rights of all and on all occasions, inclusive of gender equality and gender justice, were prerequisites of a modern, progressive, society.

"A recent event on the eve of the New Year gave all of us occasion for remorse and sorrow. It made us, as a people, hang our heads in shame," he said, addressing the NCC Republic Day Camp.

"The expressions of anguish and anger, fully justified, must now be speedily translated into comprehensive correctives in laws, procedures, societal norms and values, and social behaviour," the vice-president said.

The 23-year-old victim, a paramedical student, was gangraped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus on the night of December 16. She succumbed to her injuries on December 29 at a Singapore hospital.

Ansari said the responsibility for building a modern society must be shared by all the citizens.

"As a disciplined corps of young men and women, you can be the vanguard and trendsetters," he told the NCC cadets.

"The NCC is the premier uniformed youth organisation of the country and its contribution to nation building deserves highest commendation," Ansari said.