Two women who had gone to Daryaganj police station on Friday night to help the detained protesters, who included “children aged 10 to 12”, have a single question: “What kind of society are we making for our children?”

Advocate Poonam Kaushik and municipal councillor Yasmin Kidwai rued the attitude of the government and the police but said the presence of 60-odd doctors and lawyers outside the police station gave them hope about the future.

“This selfless spirit, this feeling of compassion, will save our country, our culture. I bow to these doctors and lawyers who came there on their own,” Kidwai, a Congress member and a filmmaker, told The Telegraph on Saturday.

“There were children aged 10 to 12 among the detainees. They had stepped out of their homes around noon, and weren’t wearing any woollens. They were made to sit on the floor — and Delhi was so cold last night — and their parents didn’t know where they were,” she said.

“I took a lawyer and a doctor inside, and the doctor gave them (the detainees) first aid. What happened was against civilised norms, humanitarian values. What kind of society do we want to build?”

Kaushik said there were at least 10 children inside.

“They had been detained at 5pm and the parents had not been informed till late in the night. What kind of society are we making?”

Asked about the nature of the injuries to the protesters, Kidwai said: “They were not serious: bruises, swollen limbs. Those who got hurt badly, with head injuries, had been sent to hospital.”

She added: “As they had not been arrested, you couldn’t even seek bail for them. Whether they had engaged in violence hadn’t been proven. There’s a process — the police have to maintain records.”

“The magistrate’s order (for lawyers to be allowed to meet the detainees and seek their release) came much later, after 1am. But we were emboldened by the presence of the lawyers and doctors standing outside. No praise is too much for them. They had not been called; they didn’t even know the people detained. They just took a humanitarian call — amazing people.”

Kaushik said: “How can the police close the gates of the police station? This is becoming a trend. Yesterday, the main gate of Daryaganj police station had been closed. The same thing had happened at Kalkaji police station during the Jamia Millia Islamia raid (on December 15). Getting legal assistance is every citizen’s right. It’s the police’s responsibility to arrange for first aid and let lawyers talk to those detained.”

She added: “We shouted, screamed, demanding that the gates be opened. The station house officer didn’t take calls, nor did the deputy commissioner of police. We sent hundreds of text messages to them and others. We used Twitter and Instagram to send our message across. Finally, a lawyer was allowed to enter.”

She said that eight minors were released after 1am. “The process of releasing the adults started around 4am. I returned home at 6am. I’m told that 15 or 16 people are yet to be released. They were produced at a Tis Hazari court today.”

Kaushik too praised the lawyers who had gathered outside the police station on their own, without any professional or personal engagement.