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19 March 2024

Delhi gang-rape: India on edge as condition of victim gets worse

Published
By Reuters and Staff

Even as the entire nation of India seemed to will and pray for her recovery, the condition of the Delihi gang-rape victim was reported as worsening according to Indian media reports.

Quoting doctors at the hospital where she is being treated, The Times of Indiaq reported that internal bleeding started again.

The Hindustan Times reported that Delhi Police constable Subhash Tomar, injured in clashes during prostests against gangrape died at the RML hospital.

Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday appealed for calm and vowed to protect women as police struggled to quell increasing outrage over sex crimes following the gang-rape of a student.

With large parts of central Delhi sealed off after a wave of violent protests, Singh said he understood the public's anger over the "monstrous crime" but added that "violence will serve no purpose".

"There is genuine and justified anger and anguish at this ghastly incident," Singh said in a televised address.

"I feel deeply sad at the turn of events leading to clashes between protesters and police forces. I assure you that we will make all possible efforts to ensure security and safety to all women in this country.

"As a father of three daughters myself, I feel as strongly as you. We will ensure justice is delivered," he added.

Protests have been taking place across India over the last week to denounce the police and government over the gang-rape of the 23-year-old student in the capital and the surge of violence against women.

Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were against women. Delhi has been dubbed the rape capital of India with the number of rapes in the city rising 17 percent to 661 this year.

The biggest protests were seen in New Delhi on Saturday, prompting police to cordon off areas around government buildings.

However fresh clashes erupted on Sunday, which the police control room in New Delhi said had left more than 100 people injured, including 60 policemen.

The clampdown was further tightened on Monday, with commuters having to make lengthy detours to make it to work.

The situation has been exacerbated with extra security already planned for the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The venue for a signing ceremony and press conference with Putin and Singh has been shifted.

"No one will be allowed to march towards the parliament or the president's palace," said New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.

"We know people will face problem because of the road block, but we have to stop the angry protest. This just cannot go on."

A television journalist was shot dead in the northeastern town of Imphal on Sunday by police trying to control a protest over the attempted rape of an actress whose attacker remains at large.

Five police personnel have been placed under suspension in connection with the shooting, the Press Trust of India reported on Monday.

Police have said some of the Delhi protestors have been intent on causing trouble and the demonstrations have been "hijacked by hooligans".

While many of the protestors have been women carrying placards, the crowds have drawn increasing numbers of young men who have been hurling stones at the security forces who have responded with teargas and water cannon.

The police's hardline tactics have drawn heavy criticism as has the government's response to the uproar.

"Both the police and the government are clueless as to how to deal with spontaneous protests," said a front-page editorial Monday in The Times of India.

"The police have been guilty of undue use of force... The government has failed to realise that these protests are signs of the people's resolve not to remain mute spectators to administrative apathy and poor governance."

The government has been on the defensive not only over the levels of crimes against women but also over the notoriously slow criminal legal system.

Ministers have now said they will consider the death penalty for the most extreme rape cases.

The victim of the Delhi gang-rape remains in a critical condition in hospital after suffering terrible injuries during her assault on a bus which began when she and a male companion were picked up after a night out at the cinema.

Police and prosecutors say six men, who were drunk and were joy-riding in an off-duty bus with tinted windows, took turns in raping the student at the back of the bus before throwing her off the vehicle.

During her assault, the victim suffered serious intestinal injuries from being beaten with an iron rod.

All six of the alleged attackers have now been arrested and remanded in custody.

Police shot dead a journalist Sunday during a protest over a sex assault on an actress in northeast India as security forces in New Delhi fired tear gas at new demonstrations over a student's gang-rape.

After the victim of last Sunday's gang-rape in Delhi began recounting her ordeal to police, a wave of revulsion over sex crimes spread to the remote state of Manipur where a protest was held over the attempted rape of the actress.

A police spokesman told AFP that the 36-year-old cameraman, who was working for the national Doordarshan network, was "killed in police firing" while covering a protest that turned violent in the town of Imphal.

Police have yet to arrest anyone over the December 18 assault on the 22-year-old actress and model known as Momoko, who has waived her right to anonymity and who has appeared on television to demand justice.

Momoko has said that a local militant dragged her away during a concert last week and then tried to rape her before she managed to fight him off and flee.

"We want a strong message to be sent that perpetrators of such crimes have no place in our society," said Bala Bedi, a woman rights activists in Imphal who took part in Sunday's protest.

India has seen a string of protests across the country in the wake of the Delhi gang-rape which has shone the spotlight on the frightening incidence of violence against women in India.

National crime records show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were against women. Delhi has been dubbed the rape capital of India with government figures showing the number of rapes in the city rising 17 percent to 661 this year.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy student, who has been battling for her life since the late-night assault on a bus, gave her first statement to police late Saturday in the hospital where she is being treated.

"All six men took turns to sexually assault me," the Hindustan Times newspaper quoted the victim as saying to police.

"They threw us on the side of the road where I then fainted," she added.

Her answers appeared to confirm most of the details that officers had already managed to piece together from a statement by her 28-year-old male companion who was also assaulted and thrown off the vehicle.

All six of the alleged attackers have now been arrested and remanded in custody.

Police say the six were drunk and were joy-riding in an off-duty bus with tinted windows when they picked up the unsuspecting pair who were returning from a night out at the cinema.

The men then took turns in raping the student at the back of the bus, according to police and prosecutors.

During her assault, the victim suffered serious intestinal injuries from being beaten with an iron rod.

The victim underwent yet another surgery on Sunday. She was allowed to take a few sips of juice on Saturday and she tried walking a few steps. But when she complained of pain in her abdomen, the doctors had to perform a surgery to wash her abdomen as some fluid had collected there. She is back on ventilator after staying without support for about 36 hours.

She continues to be on the critical list as doctors try to keep her stabilised and away from infection.

The government, stung by the mass protests and criticism that victims of sex assaults are often let down by India's notoriously slow justice system, has said it is considering bringing in the death penalty for the most extreme rape cases.

Fearing more violent protests, police declared areas close to the president's residence and the parliament off-limits on Sunday and detained those who defied the prohibitory orders.

All the routes leading to landmark government buildings were cordoned off and metro stations in the vicinity were closed to the public.

However, several hundred protesters managed to breach the cordon around India Gate and braved tear gas and water cannons for the second day in a row.

One of Delhi's most senior police officers pleaded for an end to the unrest, saying the protests were being "hijacked by hooligans" and insisting that the case against the six was being fast-tracked.

"We have met all the demands of the protesters," Special Commissioner Dharmendra Kumar told the CNN-IBN news channel.

Sushma Swaraj, a leader of the main opposition Bhartiya Janata Party, called for an all-party meeting to end the violence between protesters and the police.

"Please do not resort to violence. That is not the solution," she wrote on Twitter.

On Saturday, several thousand college students rallied at the India Gate monument in the heart of the capital where they were baton-charged, water-cannoned and tear-gassed by police.

One group of protesters camped overnight outside the residence of Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main ruling Congress party.

"I am with you... and justice will be delivered," Gandhi told the protesters in an impromptu address after midnight.

Meanwhile, Amitabh Bachchan tweets a few moot points

FB 65 - Police men at the India Gate Delhi Gang rape issue, beating protesters with the staves that carry national flag .. desecrating the national flag !! No one making note of that !

FB 65 - Think about this ... that as protesters express anguish and anger in their peaceful march for a most just cause, a team of technicians sits on editing machines in the august offices of tv channels, editing preparing and choosing the right background music to attach to the horrific visuals, in order to make their broadcast dynamic and presentable !!!

FB 65 - Peaceful student protest being hijacked by other elements, piggy backing ... or are they deliberate plants to diffuse the main issue ???

Victim refuses to vanish without fight; India erupts in protests

The Delhi gang-rape victim, Amanat (not real name) has given out a strong signal to the police and politicians. With the help of muffled speech, hand gestures and written notes, she has made her intention to take the fight to the rapists' camp crystal clear.

The 23-year-old who was undergoing training to become a physiotherapist narrated her ordeal to the police and asked that the rapists get maximum punishment.

Unprecedented protests

Indian police used batons, tear gas and water cannon to turn back thousands of people marching on the presidential palace on Saturday in intensifying protests against the gang-rape of a woman on the streets and on social media.

The 23-year-old victim is battling for her life in hospital after she was beaten, raped for almost an hour and thrown out of a moving bus on a busy New Delhi street last Sunday. Five people have been arrested.

The protesters, largely college students, are demanding the death penalty for the accused and safety assurances for women.

New Delhi, home to about 16 million people, has the highest number of sex crimes among India's major cities. Police figures show a rape is reported on average every 18 hours and some other form of sexual attack every 14 hours.

Appealing for calm, India's junior minister for home affairs, R.P.N. Singh, said the government had listened to the protesters.

"We have assured on the floor of the house and on every platform possible that strictest action will be taken against the accused. The police have been asked to show restraint but I want to tell boys and girls that breaking barriers will not help," Singh said.

But the protests are growing amid widespread media coverage.

"If Rahul Gandhi claims to be a youth icon then he should have been here, talking to protesters and taking up the issue of women's safety," one protester said.

Gandhi, the 42-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for most of its 65 years of independence, is widely seen as a future prime minister.

Marches, demonstrations and candlelight vigils have spread during the week to cities in states from the north of the country to the south.

In the northeastern state of Assam, hundreds of women and girls marched through the city of Guwahati on Friday, carrying placards and shouting "Hang Rapists" and "Stop Violence Against Women".

Victim asks for food, doesn't know she can't eat or drink ever again

The gang-rape of a young woman in New Delhi has sparked public outrage across India, bringing thousands of people onto city streets in protest against authorities' failure to ensure women's safety.

The victim has shown tremendous fighting spirit and is now off the ventilator. She can't speak as there are tubes inserted through her mouth. She is communicating with doctors and family members by writing to them. The doctors at South Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital have told the media that she wanted to know if the rapists had been apprehended. She also told her mother that she wants to live.

What caused the maximum pain to the family was her desire for food and water, her brother said. The patient does not know that she can never eat or drink ever in her life again since almost her entire intestine had to be removed as they had been mauled inside and the danger of gangrene setting in was very high.

Sexual violence against women often goes unremarked and unreported in India, but on Friday hundreds of students and activists blockaded roads in New Delhi and marched to the president's palace, breaking through police barricades despite water-canon fire to demand the culprits' execution.

The 23-year-old woman is battling for her life in hospital after she was beaten, gang-raped for almost an hour and thrown out of a moving bus on a busy street of the capital last Sunday.

Five people accused of the attack have been arrested.

"No amount of pepper spray, tazers or 'decent dressing' will protect women. I can't let my little girl grow up in a society where men pounce on and rape women," said Bharat Kapur, whose 5-year-old daughter clung to his leg as hundreds shouted with clenched fists at a protest in New Delhi.

The public verbal and physical sexual harassment of women, known as "eve-teasing", is routine in New Delhi, which has come to be known as India's "rape capital".

Last week's case - covered intensively by TV news networks - provoked uproar in both houses of parliament earlier this week, prompting the authorities to announce measures to make the capital safer for women. These include increased policing and fast-tracking court hearings for rape.

New Delhi, home to about 16 million people, has the highest number of sex crimes among India's mega cities. Police figures show rape is reported on average every 18 hours and some other form of sexual attack every 14 hours in the capital.

Marches, demonstrations and candlelight vigils have spread during the week to cities in states from the north of the country to the south.

"The system that is supposed to protect women is not doing enough, whether it is the police or the judicial system," said Tapas Praharaj, secretary of the All India Democratic Women's Association in Odisha state, where a protest is planned for Saturday.

In the northeastern state of Assam, hundreds of women and girls marched through the city of Guwahati, carrying placards and shouting "Hang Rapists" and "Stop Violence Against Women".