Sunday Times 2
Police clash with Delhi gang-rape protesters
View(s):NEW DELHI, Dec 22 (AFP) -Indian police yesterday tear-gassed, baton-charged and fired water cannon at demonstrators in the sixth and most violent day of protests against the brutal gang-rape of a student last weekend.
Thousands of protesters, most of them college students, rallied at the India Gate monument in the heart of the Indian capital and then surged toward the sprawling presidential palace.
Angry protesters shouting “We want justice” called for better safety for women across the country as police struggled to control the crowd, while the 23-year-old victim was still battling for her life in a New Delhi hospital.
Some carried banners that read: “Hang them (the rapists) now.” Six drunk men were joyriding in a bus when they picked up the physiotherapy student and her 28-year-old male companion. They took turns raping her before throwing the pair off the speeding vehicle.
During her ordeal the victim was attacked with an iron rod, causing serious intestinal injuries.
The attack was the latest in a series of violent assaults on women in the capital that have triggered demands for stricter laws and swifter prosecutions.
Yesterday, riot police were called in and routes leading to the demonstration site were cordoned off to contain the protests in which some of the demonstrators were seen throwing stones. Clashes erupted when a group in the crowd tried to break through police barricades and march towards the president’s house.
Around 20 students were injured in the clashes and were taken to hospital in the capital, the Press Trust of India reported.
Doctors at the hospital where the rape victim was being treated said she was in a critical but stable condition and had been removed from a ventilator.
“She is doing much better than yesterday. She took sips of water and apple juice today,” B.D. Athani, medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital, told reporters.
The victim is “very brave, positive and optimistic”, said another doctor, Abhilasha Yadav.
Indian parties let rape accused run for office: study
NEW DELHI, Dec 21 (AFP) -At least 20 men accused of raping women ran in Indian elections in the last five years, according to a think-tank report published amid growing outrage over the gang-rape of a student on a bus.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) study was released on Thursday as political parties lined up to condemn the rape of the 23-year-old woman, which has triggered widespread protests against how women are treated in India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and opposition lawmakers have condemned the savage assault last Sunday but the ADR said many Indian parties fielded candidates who were facing rape accusations.
“Since 2007, political parties gave tickets to 20 rape accused to fight in state elections. This is shocking and requires urgent action,” Jagdeep Chhokar, the founder of ADR, said.
“The politicians who come out to condemn rape are the ones who are openly giving the rape accused a chance to fight elections. This is hypocrisy,” he told AFP.
The report stated that political parties had also given tickets to 260 men who were charged with other crimes against women, including molestation.
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