Riots as Mexico City protesters march against alleged police rapes

Riots occurred in Mexico City late Friday as hundreds of women took to the streets in the city’s centre to protest violence against women.

The demonstrations came after two young women had separately claimed to have been raped by police in Mexico City over the past two weeks.

Fires broke out in several locations, including a police station and a monument to Mexican independence.

Masked women also destroyed a bus stop and damaged several police cars.

Several people were sprayed with paint.

A man punched a television reporter during a live broadcast.

Seventeen people were injured, including 14 police and two journalists, according to media reports.

The demonstrators were demanding justice for two teens, who were reportedly victims of sexual assault.

On the evening of Aug. 3, a 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by several police officers when she was on her way home.

In the second case, a 16-year-old said a police officer raped her in a museum where she worked as an intern.

The mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, said six policemen had been suspended.

According to UN data, two-thirds of women over the age of 15 have experienced some form of violence in Mexico and around 35,000 women have been killed as a result of their gender in the past 25 years.