Mumbai:
Under fire from the opposition over the horrific gangrape of a 22-year-old photojournalist in Mumbai on Thursday night, Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil today said women journalists reporting in isolated areas would be given police protection - a comment that is being criticized as impractical and ill-considered.
"A woman journalist going to isolated places will be given protection from the local police station," said the minister, listing out action taken by his government, battling a flood of outrage on the streets of Mumbai and across the nation.
He also asked for "suggestions from the public" on ways to make the city safer for women.
Calling it impractical, a woman journalist reacted angrily, "This is ridiculous. Why will a journalist discuss her story with a cop?"
Activists questioned why women had to put up with different rules for their own safety, just because the government had failed to protect them.
The young photojournalist, who works for an English magazine, was gang-raped at the abandoned Shakti Mills compound in Mahalakhmi in south Mumbai, where she had gone on assignment along with a colleague.
They were assaulted by five men who beat the colleague and tied him up with a belt before taking turns to rape the woman. All five have been identified and one has been arrested.
Mr Patil's comments came against the backdrop of Opposition calls for his resignation.
"If you can't improve the law and order situation in Mumbai, you must resign," said the BJP's state president Devendra Fadnavis.