One June 27 in the village of Vradiyivka [pop 8,500], near Pervomaysk, Mykolayiv oblast, a young woman was severely assaulted and gang raped by three men, two of which she alleges were policemen, one allegedly the nephew of the local prosecutor. She is very poorly, but stable, in hospital suffering from a broken skull.
The authorities hastily arranged a late-night session in order to 'whitewash' the alleged perpetrators; their family members and 'krysha' arrived in the usual SUV's to 'sort it all out'. However, word soon got around and outraged villagers armed with shovels and pitchforks surrounded the court. Mobile networks in the surrounding area were cut, as was internet communication.
Tonight over a 1000 villagers have again attacked the the regional centre police headquarters in Vradiyivka demanding the perpetrators be brought to justice and punished. According to some reports all of the windows have been smashed and tear gas and even live ammunition has been discharged. The situation could turn very ugly indeed....
Vradiyivka is just a few miles away from to Chausove -2 and the Kornatsky farm about which I have blogged recently.....
p.s. The gang rape and murder of an Indian medical student in Delhi last December triggered major violent public protests in India.Two police officers may have been involved. Security forces within India are frequent perpetrators of violence against women, according to a report by an UH-affiliated human rights group.
This week's 'Economist' lead story?
"The march of protest: A wave of anger is sweeping the cities of the world. Politicians beware.."
No-one can predict what can trigger protests. In Brazil it was a steep increases in bus fares....
In Turkey it was the demolishing of a city park to erect a shopping centre....
Ukrainian authorities can be thankful that Vradiyivka is not near an heavily populated urban centre..
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