N'Year ushered in with subdued revelry, dive in icy cold water

The New Year's Eve celebrations in the backdrop of the death of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student also turned tragic when five revellers were killed when their car collided with a lorry in Kerala and a software engineer allegedly stabbed to his death in Bangalore by his friends during a drunken brawl.

In the national Capital, Delhiites rung in 2013 with new hopes and aspirations but in a subdued tone as the city remained overhelmed with shock over the death of the girl brutally gangraped in a moving bus a fortnight ago.

Connaught Place (CP), the traditional hotspot for New Year festivities wore almost a deserted look at midnight as a small crowd turned up to celebrate with policemen outnumbering the revellers.

"We take this dip to express our resolve to fight till death for the dignity of women. We felt numbed over the death of the girl and the beastly attack on board a bus. This is our protest," Convenor of Mait Shaphrang Movement (MSM), an anti-graft movement, Michael Syiem said in Shillong.

"A dive into a pool under sub-zero temperature is a pointer that if we overcome extremely trying physical circumstances just after stepping into the new year, we are equally tough to face any oddity in the 365 days and protect our mothers, sisters and daughters," Syiem said.

While the pool temperature itself was at sub-zero level, another 40 blocks of ice slabs were added to raise the endurance limit.

In Mumbai, Police said a 29-year-old married woman was allegedly molested by a drunken man while celebrating the New Year at a beach crowded with revellers in suburban Juhu.

The accused was subsequently arrested, they said.

The victim and her husband were at Juhu Chowpatty beach as the New Year ushered in. At about 1.30 AM, the accused, Hyder Ali, who was part of the crowd at the beach, touched the victim inappropriately, police said. (MORE)