印度为妇女派发刀和辣椒粉 防强奸犯

印度轮奸案后，主政孟买的印度湿婆军党开始为当地的妇女派发刀具和辣椒粉，以帮助她们反抗强奸犯。据悉，目前已有2.1万个刀锋长为3英寸的刀具被派发到当地妇女手中，该党总共计划派发10万个。同时发到妇女手中的还有小袋包装的辣椒粉。该党发言人表示，派发刀具和辣椒粉只是为了向那些有犯罪倾向的人传递一个信号，告诉他们这里的妇女都有能力保护自己。该活动负责人说：“如果有人袭击你，就大胆用这把刀对付他。我们已经建立了一个九人辩护小组，可以帮助你们免受任何由此导致的司法困扰。”

A political party in India is handing out kitchen knives and chilli powder to women following a gang rape in the capital New Delhi that ignited a national debate on the best way to tackle sex crimes.

The radical Hindu nationalist party Shiv Sena, an ally of the main opposition BJP and which governs Mumbai, said it had handed out 21,000 knives with three-inch blades to women in the city and surrounding areas. It plans to distribute 100,000.

Mumbai police said they were examining the knives and considering legal action.

"This is a symbolic gesture," said Shiv Sena spokesman Rahul Narvekar, adding that a knife shorter than six inches in length does not fit the definition of a weapon.

The party also handed out small bags of chilli powder - apparently to throw into an attacker's eyes.

"It's only to pass a signal to eve-teasers, anti-social elements and perpetrators of crime against women that women are empowered and they can take care of themselves," Narvekar said.

Eve-teasing is a euphemism for molesting women.

"Don't be afraid of using this knife if someone attacks you," Ajay Chaudhari, running the knife campaign, was quoted by the party newspaper, Saamana, as saying.

"We have set up a team of nine advocates to protect you from any potential court cases that may arise."

A 23-year-old physiotherapy student was raped and beaten on a moving bus in on Dec 16 before being thrown bleeding on a expressway in New Delhi, dubbed India's "rape capital". Mumbai is generally considered a safer city for women.

The attack and the student's death two weeks later caused public outrage at the failure of the government and police to protect women from rising sexual offences in a country where one rape is reported on average every 20 minutes.

In response, more women are taking up self-defense classes and carrying pepper spray. A government commission set up to recommend revisions to India's sex crime laws this week said women who kill an attacker during a attempted rape should be able to plead self-defense.