Damini gangrape: 35 protesters shave off their heads at Jantar Mantar

New Delhi, Jan 4: About 35 men had their heads tonsured in public at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi Friday, protesting that the government was not keeping women safe in the country."I shaved off my head to show my anger and frustration against the rising crime against women in the country," said Ankit Sharma, a 30-year-old protesting against rising incidence of rapes in the country, told IANS.Demanding capital punishment for rapists, justice for the 23-year-old victim and stricter laws for crime against women, some 35 protestors, most of them middle-aged, got their heads tonsured at the 18th century masonry observatory that has become the site of since the brutal gang-rape of a Delhi woman Dec 16."Those who want to highlight their protest can get their heads shaved for a good cause," said Varun Bakshi, an IT employee who too had his head tonsured.Barber Ram Kumar Thakur said: "I started to shave heads around 9.30 a.m. About 35 men have had their heads shaved. I'm charging Rs.20 each. Some women are cutting off locks of their hair as a mark of protest."Rajesh Gangwar and Babu Singh, who have been on a hunger strike for days over the issue, spent another night at Jantar Mantar in the biting cold as the city's temperature dipped to 2.7 degrees Celsius, the season's lowest and four notches below average.Gangwar, from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, is continuing his hunger-strike for the 12th day Friday. Babu Singh, from Farrukhabad also in Uttar Pradesh, is on the seventh day of his fast.Both are demanding immediate death sentences for the six accused in the gang-rape of the woman who died in a Singapore hospital Dec 29.