Activist Trupti Desai and three other members of the Bhumati Ranragini Brigade were detained on Tuesday for trying to beat up a murder accused in Pune. The police prevented the four of them from assaulting Bhaben Saikia while he was being produced in the Shivajinagar court for the murder of Infosys employee K Rasila Raju. They were released later in the day, while Saikia was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days, The Indian Express reported.

Desai, who had led the group’s protests demanding women’s entry into several temples in the country last year, said they wanted to “punish elements like Saikia”. “When the entire political class is busy campaigning for the upcoming civic polls and are doing nothing for the safety of women, we decided to send this message to them and to those who feel women are weak,” she told the newspaper.

Raju was found dead at her workstation at Pune’s Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park on January 30. Saikia worked as a security guard at the office, allegedly because Raju had confronted him about staring at her, PTI reported.