Protest against rise in sexual attacks paralyses Bangalore

IANS/BangaloreA day-long shutdown across Bangalore by pro-Kannada groups to protest against sexual assaults on minors and rising crimes against women ended peacefully yesterday amid tight security though normal life was affected.Schools and colleges declared a holiday for the safety of students while shops, eateries, malls and cinemas remained closed in support of the 12-hour shutdown from 6am.Though government offices and private companies, including IT firms, were open, attendance was low as people preferred to stay at home for safety reasons.As a result, major roads across the city saw less traffic even during peak hours and the grid locks the city is notoriously known for were conspicuously absent on a working day.“The shutdown was peaceful barring stray incidents of forcible attempts to close shops and eateries in some areas,” Additional Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar said.State-run BMTC maintained its bus services while the state-run Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operated intra-state and inter-state services but with lesser number of buses.A section of taxi and auto-rickshaw unions also did not operate until evening.Though trains and flights remained unaffected, the number of passengers was less than 50% at railway stations and the international airport at Devanahalli, about 40km from here.A dozen pro-Kannada organisations, women’s groups, students and lawyers staged a massive demonstration at Town Hall and marched 2km to Freedom Park in the city centre, holding placards and raising slogans against rapists and perpetrators of crimes against women.