Male victims of resort attack urge women to show their power

Male victims of resort attack urge women to show their power

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, July 31, 2012 : A group of young men, who were attacked while celebrating a birthday party at Morning Mist Home Stay, addressed a protest meeting at St. Agnes College on July 30, Monday and urged girls and women to show their power. Declaring that “women must have the freedom to walk around with respect,” Gurudath Kamath, one of the victims, said that he and Vijay Kumar, another victim, now want to convey this message.

Stating that they were only celebrating Vijay’s birthday and doing nothing wrong, he urged students to create more awareness. Speaking about the party, he said that a small group of around 13 friends had gone to the home stay because they could not find any other place to celebrate their friend’s birthday. He said that they had some alcohol and took photos and videos. When they were standing on the balcony at around 5:30 p.m., a group of around 30 – 40 people arrived and began assaulting them, he said.

He also said that he had spoken to reporters later and stated that his mother knows the girls, who have food with them, and is furious about the assault on the group of friends. Stating that young people do not have to live in fear as the Indian Constitution gives freedom and equality to all, he wanted to know why this is not followed.

 

 

Social worker Vidya Dinker urged students to use Facebook, Internet, and mobile phones to create awareness on gender equality. She suggested that young people get the support of their parents to make the city safe for young people.

Mangalore University All College Students’ Association President Dalton said that the police at the college gates took videos of the group visiting colleges, but did not stop them. The group visited 25 colleges such as SDM College of Business Management, St. Aloysius College, Adarsh College, Sharada College, Besant Women’s College, and others. Sources say that one institution did not allow them to come in.

 

The students of St. Agnes College sang Happy Birthday for Vijay Kumar, after which they were asked to leave the grounds in groups of four.

A protest meet was held at St. Aloysius College too with the wholehearted support of the college management. Principal Swebert D’Silva called the incident “abhorrent” and urged students to convey the message to the administration that such behavior is unacceptable. He also stated that the media is also responsible for this event as it failed to inform the police, but focused only on recording the incident.