Mysuru: Nearly 250 to 300 students, majority of them girls belonging to Mysore University Vidyarthi Horata Samithi, staged a protest against the gang rape and killing of eight-year old Asifa in Kathua District of Jammu and Kashmir, in front of the Centenary Clock Tower in Manasangangothri campus here this morning.

Holding placards and raising slogans like ‘We want justice for Asifa’ and ‘Stop Crimes on Women’ the students sat in dharna till afternoon.

One of the student leaders Chandrakala from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, addressing the protesters, said, “The atmosphere in the country is getting vicious by the day and the gang rape and killing of eight-year-old Asifa in Kathua of J&K, in which the Police themselves are said to be involved is a shame on the country. The kind of indecent messages in the social media regarding this incident is also a cause for concern.”

Another shameful incident that has occurred is the rape of a girl in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar along with others. Prime Minister speaks about ‘Beti Bachao’ even as such highly disturbing incidents are regularly happening in the country, she said.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asks the people to ignore the incident, as online trolling is carried out by individuals over whom a party does not have control and one has to learn to live with it. These sorts of arguments are unacceptable, she said.

Student leaders Kalavathi, Asea and others led the protest. The Police were present at the spot where the students were agitating.