WASHINGTON(TIP): The members of the Indian American community turned up for the protest in large numbers in total dismay after knowing the heart-wrenching details of gang rape and murder of Asifa in Jammu and Kashmir, killing of Unnao rape victim’s father, and the rape and killing of a juvenile in Surat.

The protest organized by Alliance for Justice and Accountability saw women and children protesting in front of the Indian embassy raising slogans such as “Hate Murder, hate Crime: No more. No More.”

The protesters who gathered near the Gandhi statue outside the Indian Embassy in Washington had banners and placards that sought swift justice for the victims and their families.

“Friends in DC, plz join a protest in front of Indian Embassy, Wednesday Apr 18 from 4 pm to 7 pm called by Alliance for Justice and Accountability to demand #JusticeForAsifa,” tweeted Shehla Rashid, former vice-president, Jawaharlal Nehru University’s students’ union, Delhi.

The Indian American Muslim Council, an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding India’s pluralist and tolerant ethos, has announced that it will hold a candlelight vigil in Seattle on April 21 to express its outrage and disgust, not only over the gang-rape and murder of 8-year old Asifa Bano in January, but also over the rape of 17-year-old girl in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. In addition to this, the organization also submitted a memorandum to the Indian Ambassador over the recent atrocities against women and children.

“The details of rape and sexual assault cases being reported in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir which saw the 7-year-old Muslim girl brutally raped and killed, and Unnao, Uttar Pradesh where the victim was a teenager preyed upon by a state legislator, are shocking,” the Hindu American Foundation said in a statement. “Rape flies in the face of Hindu values, and thus compels us to offer condolences and compassion to victims and their families, and simultaneously work to ensure that the law and law enforcement work impartially and efficiently to deliver justice.”

Members of Sadhana, a New York City-based Hindu organization that aims at building a peaceful and tolerant Hindu society, on April 16 marched to Union Square, New York, demanding justice for the rape victims of Kathua, Unnao, and Surat.

“We are deeply disturbed that a group called the Hindu Ekta Manch was formed to defend and advocate rapists. Ekta is a word that is very important to us as Hindus — it means oneness and unity. And we will not let such words be co-opted by hatemongers and rapists,” read a post on Sadhana’s Facebook page.