NEW DELHI/BENGALURU - The Siri Fort Road is one of Delhi’s most upscale and quiet neighbourhoods, lined by a leafy park, cafes, educational establishments and some of the city’s most expensive homes.

On the afternoon of September 25, this posh idyll was shaken by sloganeering from hundreds of college-going women chanting “Tod ke rakh do woh samaaj, naari jisme bandhi hai aaj!” – Smash the society that shackles women today.

Several such protest marches have happened in Delhi, following the rape of a 17-year-old school girl on September 21 by three men at a public park near an all-women’s college and the Lotus Temple, one of the city’s best known tourist landmarks.

All three accused have been arrested, but this has not dulled the harsh spotlight this recent rape case, one of many such recent sexual assaults nationwide, has cast on women’s safety in Delhi and beyond.

Today, angry young Indian women are shouting louder and more creatively to say that not only have authorities failed to protect them, society too has let them down.

“We want safety and we want reassurance from the government that these kinds of heinous crimes do not happen again,” said Mitali Pandita, a 20-year-old political science undergraduate student at the University of Delhi, as she protested at the rally on September 25.

Placards such as “Dear System Do Your F***ing Job” and “Don’t Tell Me How to Dress, Tell Them Not to Rape” signalled the seething anger among protesters over the government’s failure to prevent recurring cases of sexual assault and societal attempts to victim-blame.

“It’s okay, you can’t give us clean air; you can’t give us clean roads and water. Just give us safety; that’s basic, dude,” added Pandita.