slogans. Police arrested 55 protesters, including 38 women and 7 girls. That evening, state television broadcast images of the mall protesters, referring to them as "savages," and encouraging viewers to report information that could lead to the arrest of protesters to the Ministry of Interior via an e-mail address displayed onscreen. On social media sites, pictures emerged of women who were arrested at City Center piled on top of each other. The female detainees were reportedly prevented from eating, praying, and contacting their lawyers or families. Lawyers for the detainees visited the Public Prosecution Office, who denied the female detainees were being questioned there. However, the lawyers observed the detainees being moved between floors in the building and managed to talk to some of them. One reportedly had bruises on her face sustained during custody, and police are believed to have beaten many others. Ultimately, sixteen female and four male detainees were charged with participating in a gathering for the purpose of disrupting public order with violence, attacking four policewomen, and publicly inciting hatred against the regime. Two women and two men were acquitted, and the remaining defendants were each sentenced to 6 months imprisonment on 20 October. One of the defendants, a 17-year-old girl suffering from sickle-cell disease was reportedly arrested from her hospital bed to begin her 6-month sentence. The verdicts and punishments were all upheld on appeal on 24 November. Throughout the day on 23 September, the Ministry of Interior said that five police officers were injured, including one who sustained second-degree burns from a firebomb. 25 September Bahrain held by-elections on 25 September to fill the 18 parliamentary seats left vacant when deputies from the main opposition Al Wefaq party resigned in March 2011. Four seats were won unopposed before votes were cast. The elections were notable as two female candidates became the first two women in Bahrain to win contested parliamentary seats. The elections were boycotted by the Al Wefaq party and other opposition groups. Turnout was recorded at 17.4 percent for the 14 contested districts. The government blamed voter intimidation for low turnout. 26 September A Bahraini court jailed six men for fifteen years convicted of chopping off the tongue of an Asian muezzin in April 2011. Two others were jailed for ten years in the case. Many Asians complained of attacks by alleged members of the Shiite-majority who accuse the Al-Khalifa Sunni ruling-family