Family members recount her last days of pain

December 30, 2012

victim

New Delhi, December 30: “You don’t give me one chappati when I am hungry, but try to shove food down my throat when I am dead. What’s the use of such help,” says Rajesh (name changed) cousin of the gang-rape victim, who breathed her last in Singapore.

Son of victim’s paternal uncle, Rajesh believes that though the accused threw her out of the moving bus believing that she was dead, there were more chances of her survival if she was sent to Singapore on the second or third day of the incident. It was too late, at least by a week, by the time she was flown out, said Rajesh.

“We kept telling the authorities and doctors that she should be shifted to some better hospital abroad. But we were told that first she needs to be stabilised. However, instead of stabilising, she suffered a fatal cardiac arrest due to whatever they were up to,” alleged Rajesh. He said she was as good as dead before being shifted to Singapore.

And he has reasons to think so.

During a meeting at the victim's house in Dwarka area of West Delhi, Rajesh said: “Just before doctors said she suffered a cardiac arrest, she had made hand gesture trying to reach out to chachi. When chachi came she looked at her fondly for a few seconds following which the pupils of her eyes tilted, head rolled and hands fell apart.

“Doctor rushed and pressed her chest several times. After that she was surrounded by a team of doctors and we were all taken out of the room. For the family she had died then only. " Some relatives were told that she had passed away.

His claim has been corroborated by a senior Delhi Police officer. “We were expecting a declaration of her being dead on Wednesday evening,” the senior officer said.

"When we heard the decision to air lift her to Singapore, we started making preparations to tackle protest-like situation," he added.

According to him, it was only after an hour that the family was taken to the office of medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital and given forms to fill so that their passports could be made and they could accompany her to Singapore.

“The forms were filled, pictures clicked for passport in the superintendent office. Within an hour passports were ready,” Rajesh said. The victim was taken directly to Indira Gandhi International Airport while another ambulance was sent to Medanta Hospital to doze media.

Rajesh added that her hands were lying on her sides with palms open when she was being put in the ambulance. “Only the dead have hands like this,” he said.

How did he learn about the death?

“Chacha called around 1 am from Singapore and said teri behan ab nahi rahi (your sister is no more),” said Rajesh.

Friend’s father calls for death penalty

Father of the male friend of the rape victim has demanded that the six accused should be hanged as soon as possible.

The lawyer, a resident of Turkmanpur area of Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district, is in the capital to be with his son who was also assaulted in the attack on December 16.

“It is very unfortunate that she passed away during the treatment. Our close family and relatives feel that the accused must be hanged for the heinous crime to set an example in the country,” he said.

He added that they will attend the cremation of the woman. But are yet to be contacted by the woman’s family. It was revealed that the male friend has been struggling to cope with the incident and has been sick for the past few days.

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News Network
June 24,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 24: Kerala on Tuesday was among those honoured for tackling the Covid-19 pandemic when the United Nations celebrated the Public Service Day.

The function, held on a virtual platform, saw the participation of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and other top UN dignitaries who applauded all the leaders which included state Health Minister K.K. Shailaja for effectively tackling Covid-19.

Speaking on the occasion, Shailaja noted that the experiences of tackling Nipah virus and the two floods - 2018 and 2019 - where the health sector played a crucial role, all helped in tackling Covid-19 timely.

"Right from the time when Covid cases got reported in Wuhan, Kerala got into the track of the WHO and followed every standard operating protocols and international norms and hence, we have been able to keep the contact spread rate to below 12.5 per cent and the mortality rate to 0.6 per cent," she said.

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News Network
May 18,2020

As many as employees of Zee News have tested positive for the coronavirus, Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary said on Monday. Most of them are asymptomatic, he said, tweeting an official statement from Zee News about the situation.

The organisation said that on May 15, one of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus. Following this, the company started testing employees who may have come in contact with the employee. Twenty-seven more were found to be infected.

“Fortunately most of them are asymptomatic and are not complaining of any discomfort,” Zee News said. “We believe this is because of early diagnosis and proactive intervention.”

The news network said all guidelines and protocols have been followed, and its office, newsroom and studios have been sealed for sanitisation. The Zee News team has been shifted to an alternative facility.

“At the moment, Zee Media Corporation has 2,500 employees, by far the largest in the private sector,” the company said. “We are committed to the safety of each one of them.”

Chaudhary also claimed that “those who are infected had the option of sitting at home and sharing memes”. “They came to work because they are committed professionals.”

Following this, some social media users claimed that Zee News employees found infected with Covid-19 were still at work. In response, Chaudhary alleged that a malicious campaign was being conducted to distort his statement. He said no infected employee had come to work, and all the contacts of the employee who tested positive on May 15 had been tested and quarantined.

Over the past two months, journalists from several media organisations have tested positive for the coronavirus. On April 21, 26 employees of a Tamil news channel based in Chennai tested positive for the coronavirus. The previous day, over 50 journalists from Mumbai were found infected, after samples of over 170 journalists were tested.

On May 7, a newspaper journalist died of the coronavirus in Agra. Some states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi, have tested journalists for Covid-19.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: Even as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in various parts of India, more than 1 million people have recovered and discharged till now, informed Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Ministry of Health, here on Thursday.

"More than 1 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in the country. This landmark recovery has been achieved because of the selfless work and dedication of our doctors, nurses and frontline workers," Bhushan said at a press conference.

Giving the number of cured persons, Bhushan said, "More than 1,020,000 patients have recovered. They have been discharged. It is a great achievement."

He said, "The recovery rate has shown positive trends. It was 7.85 per cent in April and today it is 64.4 per cent, which is another heartening news which tells us that whatever battle is put by the Union government in collaboration with state governments is showing results."

"Sixteen states of the country have a recovery rate that is more than the national average. Of these, Delhi has a recovery rate of 88 per cent, Ladakh 80 per cent, Haryana 78 per cent, Assam 76 per cent, Telangana 74 per cent, Tamil Nadu & Gujarat 73 per cent, Rajasthan 70 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 69 per cent and Goa 68 per cent," Bhushan said.

He said effective clinical management lead to a decrease in case fatality rate. In June it was 3.33 per cent and now 2.21 per cent.

Bhushan said the case fatality rate in India today is 2.21 per cent and it's among the lowest in the world. Twenty-four states and Union Territories have lesser fatality rate than that of the country.

Herd immunity in a country of the size and population of India can not be a strategic option. It can only be achieved through immunisation.

"Over 18,190,000 tests have been conducted in the country including RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests. There has been a week-on-week increase in average tests per day. India is conducting 324 test per 10 lakhs population per day," Bhushan said.

He added, three vaccine candidates, are in phase 3 clinical trial. These three are in the US, UK and China. In India, two indigenously developed vaccine candidates are in phase I and II of clinical trials. 

Trial of the first vaccine involves 1,150 subjects at eight sites, second on 1,000 subjects at five sites.

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