Netizens too join chorus for justice

As thousands of protesters took to the streets to express anger over the brutal gangrape in South Delhi, social networking websites were also abuzz with action as netizens demanded stricter laws for sexual crimes, Shaswati Das reports.

As thousands of protesters took to the streets to express anger over the brutal gangrape in South Delhi, social networking websites were also abuzz with action as netizens demanded stricter laws for sexual crimes.

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Several activist groups and NGOs have launched various movements and put up petitions for signatures to push the authorities for swift action.

Apart shock over the extent of barbarism in the recent case, netizens also focused on the apathy over sexual harassment faced by women daily.

"There is no excuse for such an act. Some people say that women invite such acts because of provocative clothing. But they must know that many rapes are reported from rural areas where women are covered from head to toe," wrote Minal Saha, who works in Gurgaon.

As several petitions demanding death penalty for the accused were signed by online supporters on Facebook and Twitter, some people maintained that a deaths sentence was not sufficient until it the culprit is actually brought to the gallows.

"More than 200 people have been convicted and sentenced to death, but only three have been executed since 1995. This is why rapists don't fear the penalty," explained Narain Sachdeva (name changed), a professor.