Photo by Emily Abrams
Thousands turned out to public protests in Bangalore, India, demonstrating the inaction of police and state authorities in investigating the alleged rape of a six-year-old girl in a public school.The protests, which entered their fourth day on Sunday, demanded police immediately find and arrest those responsible for the rape, which took place on July 2, and investigate the school's apparent failure to take action.Circumstances surrounding the incident at Bangalore's Vibgyor School were only brought to light on July 15.No arrests have been made on the eight suspects detained in the case, local media reported.Among the protestors, the alleged victim's parents and relatives joined in a march from the school to Bangalore's HAL police station.On Saturday, police commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar addressed protestors at the site of the demonstrations and later spoke to reporters about setbacks to the investigation.Sexual violence against women on India's election agenda, but not really. Read more here."The CCTV cameras on campus are old and that's hampering our investigation," Auradkar said. "There was also a lot of delay… nearly 12 days. We request the public to give us two more days. A hurried investigation will only spoil the case."The issue highlights ongoing furor at the government and police inertia in handling rape crimes in a country where victims are routinely threatened or shamed into silence and their rapists remain unpunished.The increasing pressure of recent protests has led the state government to write to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations Board to declassify Vibgyor as an ICSE school, India Today reported.Activists have scheduled similar protests around the city and country for the coming days.A woman is raped every 20 minutes in India, according to government figures.Follow Liz Fields on Twitter: @lianzifieldsPhoto via Flickr
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