By R. JAI KRISHNA And PRASANTA SAHU
NEW DELHI—Indian police on Monday cordoned off large parts of central New Delhi and shut down public transport in an attempt to prevent further demonstrations after a weekend of protests over the aggravated rape of a woman in the city earlier this month.
Demonstrators set fire to wooden barricades during a protest calling for better safety for women following the rape of a student last week, in front the India Gate monument in New Delhi, Sunday.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a televised appearance Monday, appealed for calm. On Saturday and Sunday, police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters, many of them students. On Sunday, protesters set fire to barricades and overturned a government vehicle. There were about 85 injuries, including police and protesters, according to police officials. A number of protesters were detained and later released, police said.
"I feel deeply sad at the turn of events leading to clashes between protesters and police forces. Anger at this crime is justified but violence will serve no purpose," Mr. Singh said. "As a father of three daughters myself, I feel as strongly about this as each one of you."
On Monday, authorities kept in place an emergency law banning groups of more than four people congregating in public areas that it had invoked on Sunday. But protesters gathered anyway at a commercial area just north of India Gate, the zone of government offices and the nation's Parliament that now is totally cordoned off to people.
An injured man was dragged away from the North Block, near the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi, Dec. 22.
"Police laugh at women and girls who go to them to complain against rape, molestation and harassment and say 'What is new in this,'" said Kamna Kakkar, a second-year medical student, who joined the protests Monday. "This is an opportunity for us to force the government to make stronger laws. We will protest as long as possible."
The decision to shut down access to India Gate caused traffic snarls across the city as commuters were forced to find alternative routes. Police said protests would be allowed in specific protest areas, including the Ramlila Grounds, an area of grassland a few kilometers north of the political hub of New Delhi. So far Monday there had been no arrests, police official said.
The rape on Dec. 16 of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student, who has not been named, has sparked calls for stricter sentencing of rapists and better policing of Delhi's streets. The rape occurred on a moving chartered bus that was illegally picking up public passengers. Six men, including the bus driver, have been charged for rape and kidnapping but their trial is yet to begin.
The six men are accused of gang-raping the woman for nearly an hour, police said. They also allegedly beat her and a male companion with metal rods as the bus continued to circle the city's roads for hours, even crossing police checkpoints. The couple was later stripped of their clothing and thrown out of the bus near a highway on the periphery of Delhi, police said.
The rape was so savage that the woman had to have large amounts of her intestines removed, her doctors said. She is still on life-support systems at a Delhi hospital, her doctors said Sunday.
Activists say the current criminal law governing rape is outdated as it does not deal with homosexual rape or acts like oral sex and is unclear about maximum sentencing. Others have complained about the more than 900 rape cases pending decisions in Delhi's court system.
Many of those who have taken to Delhi's streets in recent days are students bearing signs calling for protection of women's rights. This year, some politicians have said a majority of rape cases actually involve consensual sex. Others have suggested reducing the legal age of marriage - currently 18 for women and 21 for men – as a way of dealing with the problem.
These comments have caused anger among activists who say they show a broader culture in which rape is not taken seriously. Many rape cases, they say, are not even reported due to pressure from families not to talk about them.
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told television channels that students have a right to protest but "calmly, quietly and silently." Mr. Shinde declined a request from Sushma Swaraj, leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the lower house of Parliament, to convene a special session of lawmakers to discuss the matter. "As and when it is required, I will take the assistance of all political parties," he said.
The rape victim's father, whose identity was not given, also appealed for calm. "My daughter is strong, she will survive. She is conscious now," he told local television news channels, his face blurred.
In a separate statement Monday, the government said it has decided to form a panel of three legal experts, headed by former chief justice of India, J.S. Verma, to look into possible amendments to criminal laws to allow for quicker trials of alleged rapists and more severe punishments. The committee will submit its report within 30 days, it added.
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