Hundreds protest in Delhi over sex assault on schoolgirl

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Hundreds of protesters clashed with police on Friday outside a New Delhi hospital where a seven-year-old victim of sexual assault was admitted earlier in the day, a police official said.

Angry youths hurled stones at buses and police, who then used batons to break up the demonstration outside the hospital which is located in a low-income neighbourhood, India's NDTV channel reported.

"The protesters were angry over the assault on the little girl and were demanding that police act against the culprit," the police official told AFP.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said the second-grader was sexually assaulted on Friday morning while at school.

After police were called, the child was taken to hospital and later discharged.

"The crowds have dispersed and the situation is normal," the official said.

Police are investigating the case, he added.

Three men - two school-teachers and a security guard - have been detained for questioning, local media reports said.

India has seen a surge in anti-rape demonstrations in recent weeks after thousands took to the streets to protest against police inaction following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a Delhi bus last December.

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