Mangalore: The government may be trying to use the Goonda Act against rapists and other sexual offenders in the state, but offering another solution is Sampat Pal Devi of “Gulabi Gang” fame. In Mangalore to participate in a workshop on self- defence for women organised in memory of Mangalpady Namdev Shenoy, she said she could start a Gulabi Gang in Karnataka if she got support from local women.
“We have groups mostly in Uttar Pradesh and one in Bihar. People are asking me to start a group in Karnataka too. They contacted me when I came to Bidar a few months ago. While I told them that Karnataka was too far for me, if women support me in this task I will think of starting the ‘gang’ here too,” Ms Devi told reporters.
Revealing that atrocities against women had declined in places where her ‘gang,’ was active, she said only social change could put a stop to them.“Woman should become stronger and raise their voices against injustice. If we don’t make an effort, there is no point in blaming the government,” she asserted.
In her view hanging was too mild a punishment for a rapist.“The words “I am a rapist,’ should be tattooed permanently on his forehead,” she declared.
“We took up the ‘lathi’ to provide justice to women, but never did we use it to kill or brutally assault anybody. Lathis are used only to teach a lesson to husbands who harass their wives. Assaulting boys and girls who belong to different communities is wrong,” she said when asked about charges of moral policing levelled against her “gang.”
She admitted that she had two cases of assaulting the police filed against her. On the film, Gulabi Gang starring Maduri Dixit, Ms Devi said she was not happy with it and had wanted some of her suggestions incorporated.
