Eight women were picked up by Delhi Police on Tuesday at Jantar Mantar for allegedly provoking other protesters to march towards Rashtrapati Bhavan, police said.

"They were taken to Parliament Street police station at 4.30pm as they were trying to provoke people protesting at Jantar Mantar to march towards Rashtrapati Bhavan," said a police officer .

"It was just a preventive action," the official said, denying that they were detained.

The protest for justice for a 23-year-old woman who was brutally gangraped by six men in a moving bus on the night of  December 16 in south Delhi continued  for the fourth day at Jantar Mantar.

All the six men have been arrested even as the victim is battling for life at Safdarjung Hospital.