Mumbai: The arrested protesters were bailed after a payment of Rs2.03 lakh at the sessions court on Sunday. To reimburse an amount of Rs7,000 each to the arrested protester’s family, a crowdfunding platform was organised by Yash Marwah.
“The protesters who could not be present in person, helped by providing financial help to free the arrested protesters. It shows how large a cause it is and how people across the country are ready to chip in any way they could.”
After the 29 protesters were arrested and sent to judicial custody, their families and well wishers began frantically looking for options to get their loved ones out. Marwah, who is a member of the Aarey Conservation Group came up with the idea of crowdfunding to raise money to pay the bail amount.
The environmentalist’s group set up a crowdfunding portal on Sunday morning, after they were informed of the bail amount that came to around Rs2.03 lakh, each bail costing Rs7,000.
“Within 11 hours, 125 supporters had raised the amount, after which we stopped accepting the funds. This raised fund would be compensated to the protesters’ families, as they were just trying to be a socially-sound citizens,” said Marwah.
The support came in huge numbers, not just from Mumbai, but from across the country. Those who could not be part of the “#Save Aarey campaign” in person, they contributed through social media — some in their office spaces, and others, who were unavailable in person, sent the financial aid, Marwah said.
