Indian police and protesters clashed Sunday at a demonstration zone in central Delhi, while the opposition criticized the government for a secretive and hurried cremation of the body of the victim of the Dec. 16 gang rape.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said India is now a "nation in shock" which is entitled to display its sense of despair, and accused the Congress-led government of resorting to "Emergency- like" restrictions against anti-gang rape protests.
The BJP is referring to the Emergency measures taken by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s.
The opposition party also asked for the holding of a special Parliament session on enacting laws to fight rapes and other crimes against women.
The 23-year-old medical student's body was cremated early Sunday hours after being flown back home from Singapore on a special plane sent by the Home Ministry.
Her mother who is reported to be remaining in a state of shock has been admitted to hospital.
Local media said the family of the victim was first asked by police to cremate their daughter in their home town in Uttar Pradesh in northern India rather than in Delhi due to law and order reasons. But the central government intervened and let the family decide the issue by themselves.
Protests turned violent at the Janta Mantar in central Delhi as some young men claiming to be members of a student organization associated with the BJP tried to break police barricades and march towards a commercial district.
Police have detained five persons after the clash for assaulting police and public properties.
India stayed in a state of grief and rage Sunday after widespread demonstrations were held across the country's major cities on Saturday condemning crimes against women and criticizing government and judiciary inaction to crack down on such crimes.
Meanwhile, police said they have arrested a bus conductor for molesting a 12-year-old girl on a public bus in the Indian capital Saturday night.
Local press have been publishing editorials and comments on the event which rocked the nation over the past two weeks.
The daily The Hindu said it is time to look into the "ugly and rotting interior" of the Indian society marked by a patriarch tradition of male dominance and arrogance.
The Indian Express published a signed article saying the violence against women should find its roots in the caste system of India.
All major English dailies carried headline stories mourning the death of the gang rape victim, who is now widely regarded as a national heroine who sacrificed her life to awake public conscience, while some had before asked for a state funeral for her.
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