PUBLISHED: 09:30 GMT, 30 December
2012 | UPDATED: 20:39 GMT, 31 December 2012
I thrashed and kicked...
but they were boiling in anger and murmuring 'kill': Ordeal of Indian gang rape
victim in her own words as she lay dying
Student
told brother she tried to fight off her attackers and bit and hit them
Brother
said sister always 'fought against atrocities' and was 'very strong'
Also
paid tribute to sister's friend who tried to defend her during attack
Said
her life could have been saved if she was moved to Singapore sooner
Gang-rape
victim's family say they won't rest until those guilty are hanged
Rapper
Honey Singh's gig cancelled over misogynistic lyrics outrage
Indian
Congress now proposes chemical castration for all rapists
Protests
break out over India calling for end to violence against women
16-year-old
claims she was raped on bus same day gang-rape victim died
The Indian woman who died after a horrific rape by
a gang of men told her family as she lay dying in hospital that she tried as
hard as she could to fight off her attackers.
The 23-year-old told her younger brother she bit
and kicked the men as they raped her on a bus in Delhi. As they assaulted the
student the men said they would kill her.
The woman died on Saturday despite treatment at a
Singapore hospital.
Scroll down for video
 |
| A woman
displays a placard during a protest at the death of the 23-year-old gang rape
victim, stating that Delhi is still unsafe |
 |
|
Protesters express anger
at the fact that rape is one of India's most common crimes against women.
Marital rape is now illegal in India but it is still widespread
|
Protesters express anger
at the fact that rape is one of India's most common crimes against women.
Marital rape is now illegal in India but it is still widespread
Following
her death her brother paid tribute to the strength and courage she showed
following her ordeal.
He
said: 'She was very strong. She always said one should never bear atrocities
but fight against it.
'While
she was admitted in hospital, she told me that she fought back as hard as she
could. She was defending herself by beating and biting them.
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'She
thrashed them and kicked them too. They were boiling in anger by her defence so
they decided to kill her. She told me that they were murmuring 'maar do ise'
(kill her). They threw her considering she was dead.'
He
also paid tribute to the woman's friend, who was also attacked on the bus as
they were returning home from a cinema trip.
Neighbours
said the couple were planning to marry in February.
Her
brother said: 'The boy was equally courageous like my sister. She told me that
he guarded her until he became unconscious.'
He
added that he hadn't slept since the incident occurred.
'I’m
missing her voice. She was my best friend. Whenever I had a problem, I talked
to her over the phone for hours. She used to give me the best advice,' he said.
 |
|
Tense: The body of a young woman who was gang-raped
and brutally beaten on a bus in India's capital was cremated but her family say
she could have survived
|
In an interview with The Indian Express today, the
brother said he and her family believe she could have survived if she had been
taken to Singapore for life-saving treatment sooner.
He said his sister caught a series of preventable
infections in Delhi.
The trainee physiotherapist was flown to the Mount
Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore four days ago - almost two weeks after she was
raped by a gang of six men on a bus in Delhi.
'She could have been saved perhaps, but the
decision came late,' her brother said, adding: 'Mount Elizabeth Hospital had
very high standards of hygiene. They could have prevented the infection.'
It comes as a second victim, a 16-year-old girl
claims she was raped by a conductor on a Delhi bus the same day as the
gang-rape victim died.
The family of the 23-year-old student said they
will 'fight' for the death penalty to be handed down to the perpetrators.
He said: 'The fight has just begun. We want all the
accused hanged, and we will fight for that, till the end.'
 |
| Children
pictured at a protest in Bangalore as a 16-year old claims she was raped in
similar circumstances to that of a 23-year-old student who died after being
gang-raped on a bus in Delhi
|
The woman's body was cremated yesterday after being
brought back to Delhi by an aircraft chartered by the Indian government.
Her horrific ordeal has galvanised Indians to
demand greater protection for women from sexual violence with mass
demonstrations, candle-lit vigils and street protests with placards, chants and
road blocks.
The Indian Army has cancelled New Year's parties
across its airforce, navy and army in a show of solidarity with the family.
A hotel in Gurgaon has cancelled rapper Honey Singh's
performance tonight after online outrage over his lyrics which boast about the
different ways he will sexually assault a woman.
The Indian Congress has put forward plans for
chemical castration and 30-year jail terms for all rapists following the attack.
A draft Bill has been put together and will be
finalised and handed to India's chief justice by the end of January.
Meanwhile the victim's father who worked at the IGI
airport has described his final conversation with his daughter in the Intensive
Care Unit in Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi.
'She said, "aap so jao, main bhi ab
soungi" (you go to sleep, I will also sleep). Then she embraced my hand
and slept as a tear dropped from the corner of her eye. Those were her last
words to me. Thereafter, she never gained consciousness and didn't talk to any
of us,' he said.
He said his daughter was different from her peers
in that she was sensible and responsible.
'She always wanted to support her family. She knew
that worked hard to earn money and my sons are too young to earn,' he said.
Aware: The
body was cremated amid tight security, police said
'She worked in a call centre in Dehradun after her
college hours earn. She gave her fees for two consecutive years in her college
earning from the call centre. She bought us many gifts and things for the
household.'
He said that she used to sleep for four to five
hours a day only, the rest of the time she dedicated to work and study and was
top of her class.
'She was very stubborn about books no matter how
costly those were. I always fulfilled her demands because they were always
genuine,' he added.
Her mother was taken to hospital yesterday after
collapsing while her daughter was being cremated.
It has also emerged that she planned to marry her
boyfriend, who was injured in the same attack, according to her neighbours.
 |
| Poignant:
White lilies could be seen in the back of the ambulance as the body was
transported through the city
|
The victim and her boyfriend had spent the evening
watching The Life of Pi at a multiplex in the Saket district of Delhi when they
were attacked on the bus home on December 16.
It is thought he defended his girlfriend after she
was initially verbally abused by a group of six men.
They were then imprisoned on the bus by a gang for
around an hour as it was driven around Delhi.
Their brutal assaults were hidden from view by the
closed curtains on the bus.
She was also abused with a rod, which left her with
horrific internal injuries. The pair were eventually hurled naked from the
vehicle as it was still moving.
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|
Rituals:
After the body arrived at the airport, it was taken to the woman's New Delhi
home, where police stood guard outside, for religious rituals before being
escorted by police to the crematorium
|
They had made all the wedding preparations and had
planned a wedding party in Delhi,' a neighbour told NDTV.
'We know that she was going to get married in
February,' she said. 'The whole neighbourhood was excited about it.'
Yesterday's private ceremony took place with Indian
riot policemen standing guard outside the cremation centre in New Delhi.
Fearing the unrest amidst the public anger, the
location and timing of the cremation was not disclosed, but it was held soon
after the arrival of her body from Singapore on a special Air-India flight.
Her distraught mother collapsed and was admitted to
Safdarjung Hospital after her daughter's body was taken away.
Premier Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, head of
the ruling Congress party, were at the airport to receive the body and meet
family members of the victim who had also arrived on the flight.
 |
| Tragic: The
body of the young woman is moved into the funeral home by workers where she was
embalmed before being flown home
|
Tragic: The
body of the young woman is moved into the funeral home by workers where she was
embalmed before being flown home
 |
| Coffin: The casket at a funeral home in Singapore
which carried the body of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim |
After the body arrived at the airport, it was taken
to the woman's home in New Delhi for religious rituals before being escorted by
police to the crematorium.
Security was tight, with no access to the public or
media at the crematorium.
Sheila Dikshit, the senior elected leader of New
Delhi, and junior home minister R.P.N. Singh placed wreaths beside the body
before it was cremated.
Details about the girl's identity have not been
released to protect the family.
But The Hindustan Times newspaper described her as
a dedicated student who tutored neighbours’ children to boost her family’s
income
The parents had sold a plot of land nearby as well
as land in their village in Ballia district of eastern Uttar Pradesh to fund
their daughter's education.
'Now her elder brother, who is preparing for his
engineering entrance exams, has no hope to continue his studies. The family had
depended on her future career to see them out of their poverty,' a neighbour
called Vimla told IANS.
 |
Solace:
An Indian activist prays as she takes part in a candlelight vigil in Kolkata
for the gang-rape victim
|
 |
| Candles: Indian people light candles to pay tributes to the 23-year-old in Bhopal, India |
Indian police have charged six men with murder in
the December 16 attack, which shocked the country and triggered protests for
greater protection for women from sexual violence.
The six suspects face the death penalty if
convicted, in a case that has triggered protests across India and raised
questions about lax attitudes by police toward sexual crimes.
After 10 days at a hospital in New Delhi, the
victim, who has not been identified, was taken on Thursday to Singapore's Mount
Elizabeth hospital, which specialises in multi-organ transplants
 |
|
Sad:
Undertakers and hospital staff carry the body of the Indian rape victim into a
van as they leave Mount Elizabeth Hospital
|
 |
| Final
journey: A police morgue vehicle is parked in front of the Mount Elizabeth
hospital in Singapore to retrieve the body |
 |
|
Riot gear: Indian policewomen stand guard at a
checkpoint following the death of the gang-rape victim
|
Staff at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital
said she had died peacefully of multiple organ failure after suffering a heart
attack.
‘Despite all efforts by a team of eight
specialists to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate,’ Dr
Kelvin Loh, the hospital’s chief executive officer added.
‘She had suffered from severe organ failure
following serious injuries to her body and brain. She was courageous in
fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body
was too severe for her to overcome.’
Indian High Commissioner, to Singapore T.C.A.
Raghanvan told reporters that the scale of the injuries she suffered was 'very
grave' and in the end it 'proved too much.'
Doctors initially expected the woman to die
quickly. She developed gangrene in her intestines and had to have most of them
removed.
 |
| Galvanised: Indians watch a girl paint a message during a protest against her attack death |
 |
| Indian
protesters hold candles during a rally in New Delhi. Leaders appealed for calm
and security forces headed off fresh unrest by turning the city into a fortress
|
 |
| A group of men lie on the floor as part of the anti rape protests in New
Dellhi. Police threw a ring of steel around the centre of the Indian capital
after news of the 23-year-old medical student's death |
But the medical student defied their expectations.
She had three surgeries and was attempting to walk.
Unable to speak she scribbled notes to her family
and those who were caring for her.
‘I want to live’ she wrote. As she fought for life,
public fury grew.
Following her death, thousands of Indians lit
candles, held prayer meetings and marched through various cities and towns,
including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata, to express their grief and
demand stronger protection for women and the death penalty for rape, which is
now punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment.
The Times of India have given the woman the name
Nirbhaya – meaning fearless one.
After mass demonstrations,officers in Delhi had
sealed off all roads which lead to the central India Gate, closed ten metro
stations and deployed thousands of officers. One officer died in the
protests.
The capital has been rocked by protests for days
with calls for the government to crack down on crimes against women.
Some demonstrators called for the woman’s attackers
to be hanged.
Gatherings of more than five people have been
banned in the city centre.
During the days of protests, reports reveal more
than 100 people and about 70 officers have been hurt.
Police have used batons, teargas and water cannon to
try and disperse the demonstrators after the authorities attempted to limit the
public gatherings.
Women face daily harassment across India, ranging
from catcalls on the streets, groping and touching in public transport, to
rape.
The incident has forced India to confront the
reality that sexually-assaulted women are often blamed for the crime, forcing
them to keep quiet and discouraging them from reporting it to authorities for
fear of exposing their families to ridicule.
Police often refuse to accept complaints from those
who are courageous enough to report the rapes, and the rare prosecutions that
reach courts drag on for years.
The tragic events has lead the woman chief minister
of India's West Bengal state Mamata Banerjee, unveiled plans today for 65
all-female police stations.
Prime minister Mr Singh said yesterday that he was
aware of the emotions the attack has stirred, adding that it was up to all
Indians to ensure that the young woman's death will not have been in vain.
The
outcry over the attack caught the government off-guard and it was slow to
react. It took a week for Singh to make a statement, infuriating many
protesters who saw it as a sign of a government insensitive to the plight of
women.
Ms Gandhi, the ruling party chief, assured the
protesters in a statement that the rape victim's death 'deepens our
determination to battle the pervasive, the shameful social attitudes and
mindset that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such an
impunity'.
Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human
Rights Watch, said the woman's death was a sobering reminder of the widespread
sexual violence in India.
'The outrage now should lead to law reform that
criminalises all forms of sexual assault, strengthens mechanisms for
implementation and accountability, so that the victims are not blamed and
humiliated,' Ganguly said.
Mr Singh said he understood the angry reaction to
the attack and he hoped all Indians would work together to make appropriate
changes.
'It would be a true homage to her memory if we are
able to channel these emotions and energies into a constructive course of
action,' he said.
Attitudes by Indians toward rape are so entrenched
that even politicians and opinion-makers have often suggested that women should
not go out at night or wear clothes that might be seen as provocative.
A statement issued by United Nations spokesman
Martin Nesirky said UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon 'offers his sincerest
condolences' to the victim's family and 'utterly condemns this brutal crime'.
'Violence against women must never be accepted,
never excused, never tolerated,' the statement said. 'Every girl and woman has
the right to be respected, valued and protected.'
Mr Ban urged the Indian government to take steps to
deter such crimes and bring perpetrators to justice, and to 'strengthen critical
services for rape victims', the statement said.
New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among
India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according
to police figures.
Government data show the number of reported rape
cases in the country rose by nearly 17 percent between 2007 and 2011.
Rape victims rarely press charges because of social
stigma and fear they will be accused of inviting the attack. Many women say
they structure their lives around protecting themselves and their daughters
from attack.
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