- Police bundle scores of young protesters into buses
- Demonstrators slip under police vans to deflate tires
- On Saturday, clashes broke out at a rally in New Delhi
- Police say a woman was gang-raped, badly beaten on a bus
New Delhi (CNN) -- Authorities put up security barriers and banned protests in central New Delhi on Sunday to prevent a repeat of the clashes that broke out during a massive demonstration a day earlier over a gang rape incident.
Among the key areas where the ban is effective is the Indian capital's traditional demonstration site, the Jantar Mantar observatory along Parliament Street, said police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.
Police bundled scores of young protesters into buses in the Raisina Hill area, home to the historic India Gate, the presidential palace, the parliament building and ministerial offices.
Demonstrators slipped under police vans to deflate tires and prevent them from driving off. Officers dragged them out.
On Saturday, clashes broke out at a rally in New Delhi, with police blasting protesters with water cannon and tear gas.
The demonstration was prompted by wide public outrage over what police said was the gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the capital on December 16.
Her injuries were so severe she spent days in intensive care in a city hospital, battling for her life. Police said Saturday that she had recovered enough to give a statement to a magistrate from her hospital bed the previous evening.
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Bhagat, the spokesman, said up to 35 protesters and nearly 40 police personnel were injured Saturday.
Saturday's furious protest was just the latest held across the country in the past week, where official data show that rape cases have jumped almost 875% over the past 40 years -- from 2,487 in 1971 to 24,206 in 2011.
New Delhi alone reported 572 rapes last year and more than 600 in 2012.
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Six suspects, including the bus driver and a minor, have now been arrested in connection with the rape.
As fury about the assault gathered pace, some Indian lawmakers called for treating rape as a capital crime.
"We'll work collectively to see we make a law which is deterrent and preventive," said New Delhi's chief minister, Sheila Dikshit.
India's Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters Saturday that the government would work toward increasing punishment in "rarest of the rare" rape cases.
But pressed on whether the administration would agree to demands for death by hanging in such instances, he said: "We'll have to see in what way it (the rape sentencing) can be enhanced."
Shinde said the government was pushing for a speedy trial for the attack.
Authorities are also taking a number of steps to improve security for women in New Delhi, particularly on public transport, he said.
"(The) government shares the widespread concern and support that has been expressed throughout society for the girl who has so suffered. Government also respects the right of legitimate protest," he said.
"At the same time, there is need to exercise calm at this juncture and for everyone to work together to improve the safety and security environment."
In the meantime, the victim has been promised the best possible medical care, Shinde said.
A physician described the woman's condition Saturday as better than a day earlier, but said there was still a risk of infection. She is receiving psychological as well as medical care, he said.
Read more: Indian girl seeks justice after gang rape
Following the brutal assault, the country's human rights body shot off notices to city police and federal authorities, demanding an explanation.
"The incident has raised the issue of declining public confidence in the law and order machinery in the city, especially in its capacity to ensure safety of women, as a number of such incidents have been reported in the national capital in the recent past," the National Human Rights Commission said in a statement Tuesday.
Home Secretary R. K. Singh announced the suspension of five police officers in the wake of the rape.
