Protests continue in India over rape of child

Demonstrators clash with police for second day at protest against rape of five-year-old child now battling for her life.
The young victim's condition had improved;Doctors

Hundreds of people have protested for the second day outside government buildings and residences of top politicians in India's capital, New Delhi, angry at the conduct of police dealing with the kidnapping and rape of a five-year-old girl.

About 100 protesters, many of whom were members of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, faced off with the police on Sunday as they gathered outside Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence and near the house of Sonia Gandhi, leader of the ruling Congress Party.

Police briefly detained 50 of the protesters, when they tried to break down barricades on the road leading to Gandhi's house.

The protesters were furious over allegations that police had ignored complaints by the girl's parents that she was missing, and demanded better policing standards.

"Police and other officials that fail to do their jobs and instead engage in abusive behaviour should know that they will be punished,'' Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said.

The protesters also demanded that the Delhi police chief be removed from office.

"What is the commissioner of Delhi doing? We demand removal of the police commissioner," one protester told Al Jazeera's Sohail Rahman.

As people hit the streets against the latest case of rape, doctors reported on Sunday that the young victim's condition had improved.

DK Sharma, medical superintendent of the state-run hospital in New Delhi, said the girl was responding well to treatment and that she had stabilised.
Source: Aljazeera Posted by Unknown 4/22/2013