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An Indian demonstrator in New Delhi on December 24, 2012 at a protest calling for better safety for women © AFP Sajjad Hussain

World

Indian PM urges calm as anger rages over gang-rape

“We know people will face problems because of the road blocks but we have to stop the protests. This just cannot go on.”

A television journalist was shot dead in the northeastern town of Imphal on Sunday by police trying to control a protest over the attempted rape of an actress whose attacker remains at large. Five police have been suspended over the shooting, the Press Trust of India reported.

Police have said some of the Delhi demonstrations have been “hijacked by hooligans” while Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said Monday that certain “political elements” had instigated the violence, without giving details.

While many of the protesters have been women carrying placards, the crowds have drawn increasing numbers of young men who have been hurling stones at security forces. They have responded with tear gas and water cannon.

The police’s hardline tactics have drawn heavy criticism, as has the government’s response.

“Both the police and the government are clueless as to how to deal with spontaneous protests,” said a front-page editorial Monday in The Times of India.

“The police have been guilty of undue use of force… The government has failed to realise that these protests are signs of the people’s resolve not to remain mute spectators to administrative apathy and poor governance.”

The government has been on the defensive not only over the levels of crimes against women but also over the notoriously slow criminal legal system.

Ministers have now said they will consider the death penalty for the most extreme rape cases.

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The victim of the Delhi gang-rape remains in a critical condition in hospital after suffering terrible injuries during her assault on a bus, which began when she and a male companion were picked up after a night out at the cinema.

Police and prosecutors say six men, who were drunk and were joy-riding in an off-duty bus with tinted windows, took turns in raping the student before throwing her off the vehicle.

During her assault, the victim suffered serious intestinal injuries from being beaten with an iron rod.

All six alleged attackers have now been arrested and remanded in custody.

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