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Gang-rape victim quietly cremated; protests
continue
Sunday December 30, 2012 05:41:51 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi:
A fortnight after her savage gang-rape singed the collective
conscience of the nation and plunged it into unprecedented anguish
and anger, the battered body of the young woman was cremated
quietly here early Sunday morning.
Her battle to live and fight her perpetrators moved the nation and
galvanised tens of thousands of youths all over the country to
continue to demand from the government greater assurance of
security and deterrent punishment to those who commit gender
crimes.
A special plane brought her body from Singapore to Delhi airport
at 3.30 a.m.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi were
present at the airport to receive the body of the 23-year-old
trainee physiotherapist who was brutally assaulted and gang-raped
by six men Dec 16 night in a moving bus in the national capital.
According to sources, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi spoke to the
family members of the young woman and consoled them.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and union Minister of State
for Home Affairs R.P.N. Singh were present at the crematorium in
southwest Delhi early morning.
The cremation was held at 7.25 a.m. away from public glare just
after sunrise with only family members, close neighbours and a
handful of government officials present.
"I was there as a representative of the government," Singh told
IANS. He said the funeral was held in secrecy "as we wanted to
respect the privacy of the family".
Singh said the body was brought to the cremation ground at 6.26
a.m. after which funeral rites were performed, including bathing
the body and dressing it in a new attire.
The distraught mother of the dead woman has been admitted to
Safdarjung Hospital.
"As soon as the body was taken away for cremation, she collapsed,"
a neighbour, Vimla, told IANS.
Since Saturday evening, a large number people, mostly neighbours,
assembled outside their house in southwest Delhi's Mahavir
Enclave, a middle class locality, to commiserate with the family
on the woman's death.
The woman's young male friend, who was also attacked by the six
rapists, did not attend the cremation. The 28-year-old man and his
family left Saturday night for Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, a
police source told IANS.
According to government sources, Dikshit consoled the family and
offered a small prayer for the woman.
The flames of the pyre may have died, but public anger continued
with hundreds of protestors gathering at Jantar Mantar, the heart
of the Indian capital. The peaceful protest turned a little rstive
in the afternoon when a group of students clashed with policemen.
While many raised slogans for tougher laws to deal with rapists,
some organised a 'havan' - a prayer by fire ceremony - for the
departed soul.
"We want speedy justice in the gang-rape case. We want strict
laws, until then we will continue our protest," Deepali Sharma, a
student from Amity University at Gurgaon who came to the protest
along with friends, told IANS.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded a
special session of parliament to discuss the issue of rising
crimes against women.
Delhi has the unflattering sobriquet of "rape capital" with over
600 rapes recorded this year alone, according to police figures.
Police imposed restrictive orders around India Gate and Raisina
Hill - the capital's power centre - and blockaded all roads
leading to the areas, as well as shut down ten Metro stations in
central Delhi. Five stations were opened later in the afternoon.
India Gate and its adjacent areas in the capital were out of
bounds for public.
The restrictions hindered users of cars and other vehicles who
wanted to commute to the heart of the capital, but police were
unyielding as they wanted to prevent last Sunday's violent street
protests that led to the death of a policeman.
The gang-raped trainee physiotherapist was flown to Singapore for
specialized treatment after her condition deteriorated following
the grievous injuries to her during her 40-minute ordeal.
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