Mumbai killings spark online protests

The incident took place on October 20 at Amboli,a restaurant in Andheri West. With Santos and Fernandez were the latters brother Benjamin,25,Avinash Bali,31,and three girls. After dinner,the seven walked outside for paan.

As they chatted,one Jeetendra Rana,reportedly drunk,passed lewd remarks at one of the girls. Santos and his friends walked up to Rana and told him to back off; Rana threatened he would be back. Ten minutes,he returned in an auto with three friends Sunil Both,Satish Durgraj and Deepak Piswal.

From a coconut water stall that was closing for the day,Piswal allegedly picked up two knives and handed one to Rana,who is said to have stabbed Santos in the stomach. The terrified girls ran inside the restaurant while Fernandez,Benjamin and Bali faced the attackers. Fernandez too was stabbed while Benjamin and Bali were attacked with sticks and injured.

Santos died that night and Fernandez on Monday,in hospital. Keenan was getting his papers ready to work in Dubai in the hospitality industry. Reuben was about to start a business, said Jason Temasfieldt,Santoss cousin.

Fernandezs funeral Tuesday saw a large turnout,many saying they had not known him personally but,having read about the attack in the papers,wanted to show solidarity with the family.

Students,working professionals,celebrities and others have taken to social networking to vent their anger. On Facebook,many groups have been formed demanding justice,with their posts ranging from demands for the harshest punishment to demands for fast track courts. One group,the Keenan Santos Group,has already crossed 47,760 members. Its page includes a poll,with harshest punishment for the accused leading on votes.

People have vented their anger on Twitter too. Some have urged people to do something as the same could happen to their wives or daughters.

The police say the case is being given high priority. Additional CP West Vishwas Nangre-Patil said they are doing all they can to build a watertight case. All the four accused have been arrested and charged with murder. We have also arrested 17 other persons for rioting from the area where the accused reside. The 17 tried stopping our officers from doing their work, he said.

The four accused live in Valmiki Nagar. Although it is a sensitive area,our officers ensured that there were no law and order problems, Nangre-Patil said.

The police have recovered two murder weapons and sent these for forensic tests. The next step,said Nangre-Patil,is to speak to witnesses and get them to identify the killers.