At least 15 persons, including several victims of acid attacks, staged a peaceful protest outside the Delhi Police headquarters on Friday afternoon. The sit-in was held to protest police action against acid attack victims who were holding a demonstration outside Parliament on Thursday. On Friday, protesters presented flowers to policemen and chanted “Delhi Police get well soon”. They said it was a move to counter the “police violence” that took place on Thursday. During the sit-in outside the headquarters, the protesters also demanded a meeting with Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi. They said they wanted to submit a formal complaint against Parliament Street police, who, they alleged, had detained and manhandled them on Thursday when they were protesting outside Parliament. Ritu, an acid attack victim, claimed, “We have been staging a hunger strike for the last seven days at Jantar Mantar. We demand a ban on sale of acids and proper rehabilitation of acid attack victims. But, on Thursday, we decided to move and protest outside Parliament so that our demands would be heard. Police not only detained us, but also kept four members in a room in Parliament Street police station for five hours. They also beat up acid attack victims and manhandled them. Two victims fainted, but policemen did not give any medical help or allow the doctor to treat them.” A senior police officer, however, said, “We detained 21 persons who were protesting outside Parliament Gate One. It is a protected area where assembly of persons is not allowed. We let the protesters go after a few hours. We did not use any force during the operation.”
