Child rape: Protests rock Delhi, accused arrested in Bihar

Delhi on Saturday seethed in anger over the rape of a five-year-old girl and police insensitivity in dealing with the issue. Protests erupted across the city to demand justice for the victim and the removal of Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar.

Protesters clashed with police outside the police headquarters and demanded the arrest of the policemen who tried to hush up the case by offering money to the victim's parents and even slapped young women protesters.

A large number of people hit the streets in a reminder of the protests that rocked the capital after the December 16 gangrape and assault of a girl in a moving bus.

The protesters belonged to several womens' organisations, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India - Marxist, Communist Party of India and Aam Aadmi Party. They clashed with the police when they tried to break the barricades and enter the police headquarters in central Delhi.

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A protester was detained for trying to enter the police headquarters.

Protests were also witnessed at the residences of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, AIIMS Hospital and Gandhinagar police station in east Delhi.

Security was tightened at the residences of Shinde and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Protesters also took to the streets near AIIMS where the girl had been shifted for treatment. The condition of the girl was stable today, doctors attending on her at AIIMS said.

The protesters directed their attack on the policemen of Gandhi Nagar, who allegedly tried to hush up the case by offering money to the parents of the victim.

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Rejecting the suspension of the sub inspector of the station, the protesters demanded their arrest for beating up young girls who went to protest at the police station.

They shouted slogans against the police commissioner, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and the home minister, accusing them of inaction and doing nothing to change the way police worked.

Shinde promised action against policemen who were found guilty of trying to hush up the rape case.

"An enquiry is going on to find out if there was any lapse on the part of police. We will take action against the policemen who are found to be guilty. We are waiting for the report. Give us some time, we will take action," Shinde said.

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The condition of the five-year- old girl, who was raped and brutalised, is stable though she has suffered serious injuries in the assault, doctors said.

Manoj Kumar, 22, was arrested from his in-laws' house in Muzaffarpur in Bihar early on Saturday, with police suspecting that he fled the capital within an hour of committing the crime.

As the horrific details of the rape emerged, President Pranab Mukherjee sought "urgent introspection" to identify causes behind repeated failure to ensure security of women and children.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi sent out a tough message to authorities that "action and not words" are necessary to stop recurrence of such incidents.

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Shocked and anguished at the incident, Mukherjee sought urgent steps to bring the perpetrators to immediate justice.

"As a society, we must introspect at the erosion of values and our repeated failure to ensure the security of our women and children. We must identify the causes and find solutions for such criminal depravity in our midst," Mukherjee said.

The Congress chief reminded the government and administration that "action and not words are required to ensure that such incidents never happen again".

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