Kolkata:
When a group of 50 women activists protested this morning outside the home of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, 13 of them were arrested. They were not taken to court but released on bail from the central lock up at the police headquarters.
The demonstrators wanted a meeting with Ms Banerjee to discuss a series of rape cases in Bengal in the last few days.
A college student was gang-raped and killed on Friday just 25 kms from Kolkata; a young school girl was raped and killed 150 kms away on Monday. The attacks have shocked the state.
Earlier this month, an Irish tourist was raped in Kolkata, allegedly by a local businessman who she met at a nightclub. He has been arrested.
The protesters, led by Maitree which is an umbrella organisation of women activists, also wanted to meet Mamata to seek her response to a report by the National Bureau of Crime Records (NCRB) which says West Bengal tops the number of crimes against women in the country.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) says Bengal recorded the highest number of crimes against women for the second year in a row in 2012. The state government however contested the data, claiming its disclaimers were not published.
According to NCRB, Bengal recorded 30,942 cases of crime against women in 2012. But state Director General of Police Naparajit Mukherjee said rape cases had come down "considerably" in 2012.
The NCRB shows that last year, West Bengal recorded 2,046 cases of rape - lower only than Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. In 2011, the state had reported 2,317 rape cases.