Savita death: Protesters seek to storm Irish embassy

About a hundred protesters held a demonstration outside the Irish embassy on Friday over the death of Savita Halappanavar, who died after being refused an abortion in the Catholic country.

The crowd, carrying posters of the dead 31-year-old dentist and accusing Irish authorities of committing "medical murder", were prevented by police from getting close to the Irish compound.

Smriti Irani, president of the women's wing of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, was among the protesters outside the embassy and she was allowed in as part of a four-person delegation to meet the ambassador.

"The Irish ambassador assured us that there could be a possibility of inviting international experts to be part of the investigation and we told him that Savita's husband should also be part of it," Irani said.

"The ambassador acknowledged that there is intense pressure (on Ireland) not only from the people of India but globally over Halappanavar's death," Irani told reporters amid shouts of "we want justice".

Many cynics see an irony in India's vocal protests – this is a country with one of the worst infant and maternal mortality rates in the world. There is a maternal death every 10 minutes in India, according to the United Nations, with the country accounting for about 20 per cent of deaths worldwide of women who die during or shortly after childbirth.