Hundreds of protesters gather at Jantar Mantar in Delhi

New Delhi : Hundreds of protesters have begun gathering at Jantar Mantar, in the heart of the Indian capital, to mourn the death of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim who was cremated here Sunday morning.

Police have imposed prohibitory orders around India Gate and Raisina Hill and barricaded all roads leading to the area, as well as shutting down 10 Metro stations in central Delhi.

Comprising mostly students, the protesters are demanding tougher anti-rape laws.

“We want to carry out a peaceful protest; we want to carry forward the movement. But why do police restrain us from protesting at India Gate?

“We will continue to protest even if they barricade major stretches of roads and shut all metro stations… The police can’t stop us from raising our voices,” Praveen Pandey, a law student at Jamia Millia Islamia University, told IANS from the protest site.

“We want speedy justice in the gang-rape case. We want strict laws. Till then, we will continue our protest,” Deepali Sharma, a student of Amity University, who came to the protest along with friends, told IANS.

The protesters, including some elderly people, mourned in silence the death of the young woman.

“We will be protesting silently, but if the police become violent, we will also have no other option but to retaliate. We demand a special session of parliament to discuss the issue of rising incidence of rapes in India,” Rohit Chahal, state secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad told IANS.

The 23-year-old gang-rape victim was cremated Sunday morning in secrecy after her body was flown in from Singapore, officials said.

The woman was brutally gang-raped on Dec 16 in a moving bus.