New Delhi:
A group of 16 girls, between the ages of 18 and 25, were kept at a police station in Delhi for about four hours. At 6:30 pm, their furious parents were able to take them home.
The girls say they were among the crowd of about 300 people who gathered at Jantar Mantar today in the continuing protests against the rape of a young medical student on a moving bus in Delhi last weekend.
The gang-rape by a group of six men, all arrested since, has created a national furore and a demand for better safety for women along with stricter punishment for sexual crimes.
The girls arrested today allege that the cops manhandled them at Jantar Mantar and beat them up after they were taken to the nearby Parliament Street police station.
However, police sources deny those charges and counter that the girls, abused them, tried to incite others, and attempted to break through barricades.
Over the weekend, the protests in Delhi led largely by students were heavily shadowed by violent clashes with the police.