Protesters led by university students broke through the iron barricades set up on the route of their march to the West Bengal state secretariat, television footage showed, resulting in a baton charge by the police, who had earlier declared the same #protest#t illegal.

The August 9 attack on the 31-year-old doctor has caused nationwide outrage, similar to the widespread protests witnessed after a 2012 gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi, with campaigners saying women continue to suffer from high levels of sexual violence despite tougher laws.

A police volunteer has been arrested for the crime and the federal police have taken over the investigation.

In response to the horrific rape and killing of a trainee doctor, Indian police used water cannon and tear gas to scatter hundreds of demonstrators who were marching through the eastern city of Kolkata on Tuesday. The demonstrators were demanding that a top state minister resign.