While the city has called for a 12-hour strike on Thursday in protest of sexual crimes against women and children, another rape case of a seven-year-old has come to fore in Bangalore. The minor was allegedly raped by her school attendant's son.
The incident that is said to have taken place a week ago has now been registered with the Bangalore police, who explained that when the child was at the attendant's place, her son allegedly "indulged in indecent act with" the girl. The police added that the accused has been arrested, according to IBNLive.
Enraged with increasing crimes against women and children in the city, at least 50 pro-Kannada organizations have called for strike today. The strike follows the recent rape of a six-year-old by two gym instructors, Lal Giri Indragiri and Wasim Pasha, within the Vibgyor school premises.
Demanding stricter punishments to the accused, the pro-Kannada body Kannada Okoota's leader Vatal Nagaraj has declared a shutdown across the city starting from 6 am to 6 pm. Additionally, at least 10,000 people are expected to participate in a rally from Town Hall to the residence of the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
"Associations of government employees, lawyers, hotels, taxis and autos and women's groups are supporting us to ensure a 12-hour...to protest the spate of crimes against women, especially minors in the city," Zee News quoted Nagaraj.
Strike Amid Tight Security
Measures to ensure safety during the strike has already been taken by the city police, which has deployed "civil as well as armed" forces and nearly 1000 home guards across the city today.
"...we are also getting two companies of central reserve forces; we have alerted our intelligence units to collect information on any potential problems that can be created. We expect that we will be able to handle the bandh...fairly well," Police Commissioner MN Reddi said.
What's on what's off?
The auto drivers have reportedly decided not to ply and restaurants too will remain closed during the shutdown hours. While some schools have decided to shut down, others have decided to remain open.
The government schools and offices including BBMP is likely to remain closed as most of their employees are part of the Karnataka Government Employees' Association, which is reportedly backing the strike.
Although, many organizations were uncertain whether or not they would shut off services for the day, BMTC and KSRTC have reportedly decided to run as usual, but security has been ensured as buses are vulnerable in case the protest goes violent.
"Services will be normal. But we have sought police protection to secure our buses and depots. We have also alerted our depot managers to take security measures for the buses," Times of India quoted BMTC director G Ramesh.
The Metro services will also remain on track until any untoward incident takes place. The daily essential services, milk supply, ambulances and trains will be effective as usual.
