Reactions and the crucial difference
As strikingly similar as they were, there was an extremely pertinent difference between the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape as compared to the 2013 Mumbai rape – the magnitude and intensity of public outcry and protests. The 2012 Delhi rape saw much greater public unrest, with people demonstrating and demanding changes to the system to make India safer for women, and to ensure that such an incident would not occur again.
And yet, when history did repeat itself in August 2013, public response was strangely curbed when compared to the Delhi-rape protests. There were protests after the Mumbai rape, but these were but a whisper when compared to the unrest in the country after the Delhi incident. In the capital city alone, less than a week after the rape, a mob numbering close to 10,000 stormed Raisina Hill, the home of the most important government buildings, with the police being forced to use teargas and water-cannons to quell the crowds of protesters. (The Indian Express, December 22). And there were other protests happening simultaneously across the country, and the internet too was ablaze with furious spectators demanding justice.
When we compare this to the Mumbai incident: within the first week after the rape, the only significant mention of protest was a demonstration beginning on August 24 by journalists affiliated with several groups, including the Network of Women in Media – Chennai, the Chennai Press Club, and the Tamil Nadu Press Photographers
Association, along with other people not associated with these groups. The protesters demanded justice be served on the accused, and a safe environment provided for women, and noted that “Women journalists who are engaged in such tasks on a daily basis will have to be given protection and it must be ensured that such incidents do not happen.” (The Hindu, August 25, 2013).
Sources: The Hindu (http://www.thehindu.com/); The Indian Express (http://indianexpress.com/); http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/2012/12/dec-23-photo-brief-protests-stricter-rape-laws-air-strike-in-syria-fishing-in-peru-copahue-volcano-spews-ash/; http://m.newindianexpress.com/nation/33028