Ruminations

Blog dedicated primarily to randomly selected news items; comments reflecting personal perceptions

Monday, December 24, 2012


Delhi gang rape protests policeman dies

Protesters shield themselves as Indian police prepare to beat them with sticks (23 December 2012) Demonstrators defied a ban to protest against the gang rape
 
A policeman who was injured during violent protests over the gang rape of a woman in the Indian capital Delhi has died in hospital.

Subhash Chand Tomar, 46, was injured in clashes at the weekend in which more than 100 people, including at least 60 officers, were injured.

The rape, which happened on a bus, has left the woman in a critical condition and caused outrage in India.

Indian PM Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm in the city.

Mr Singh said his government would "make all possible efforts to ensure security and safety to all women".

The victim continues to be on life support and in a critical condition in a city hospital, doctors say.
Six people, including the bus driver, have already been arrested in connection with the incident.

Mr Tomar, a constable with the city police, was injured during the protests at India Gate in the heart of the capital on Sunday.
 
Violence erupted as demonstrators tried to break through police barricades to march on President Pranab Mukherjee's palace.

Mr Tomar suffered a heart attack and had been on life support in hospital, where he died early on Tuesday.

The authorities have kept roads and metro stations shut since Monday to stop protesters, leading to massive traffic jams.

The government has tried to halt the rising anger by announcing a series of measures intended to make Delhi safer for women.

These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.

Two policemen have also been suspended in connection with the incident, which happened on 16 December.

But the protesters say the government's pledge to seek life sentences for the attackers is not enough - many are calling for the death penalty.

The 23-year-old victim and her friend had been to watch a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area intending to travel to Dwarka in south-west Delhi.

Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, both she and her companion were beaten with iron rods and thrown out of the moving bus into a Delhi street.

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