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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Agencies
January 5,2020

New Delhi, Jan 5: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday sàid it was "shameful" that Sadaf Jafar, SR Darapuri and Pavan Rao were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police for violence without any evidence against them.

He also said that it was a shocking admission by the police that there is no evidence of their involvement.

"Sadaf Jafar, S R Darapuri and Pavan Rao Ambedkar released on bail after police ADMITTED no evidence of their involvement in violence. Shocking admission," he said on Twitter.

"If that were so, why did the police arrest them in the first place? And how did the Magistrate remand them to custody without looking at the evidence," he asked.
"The law says 'find evidence, then arrest'. The reality is 'first arrest, then search for evidence'. Shameful," Chidambaram tweeted.

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News Network
June 11,2020

Washington, Jun 11: Observing that historically India has been a tolerant, respectful country for all religions, a top Trump administration official has said the US is "very concerned" about what is happening in India over religious freedom.

The comments by Samuel Brownback, Ambassador-At-Large for International Religious Freedom, came hours after the release of the "2019 International Religious Freedom Report" on Wednesday.

Mandated by the US Congress, the report documenting major instances of violation of religious freedom across the world was released by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department.

India has previously rejected the US religious freedom report, saying it sees no locus standi for a foreign government to pronounce on the state of its citizens' constitutionally protected rights.

"We do remain very concerned about what's taking place in India. It's historically just been a very tolerant, respectful country of religions, of all religions," Mr Brownback said during a phone call with foreign journalists on Wednesday.

The trend lines have been troubling in India because it is such a religious subcontinent and seeing a lot more communal violence, Mr Brownback said. "We're seeing a lot more difficulty. I think really they need to have a - I would hope they would have an - interfaith dialogue starting to get developed at a very high level in India, and then also deal with the specific issues that we identified as well," he said.

"It really needs a lot more effort on this topic in India, and my concern is, too, that if those efforts are not put forward, you're going to see a growth in violence and increased difficulty within the society writ large," said the top American diplomat.

Responding to a question, Mr Brownback said he hoped minority faiths are not blamed for the COVID-19 spread and that they would have access to healthcare amid the crisis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has criticised any form of discrimination, saying the COVID-19 pandemic affects everyone equally. "COVID-19 does not see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or border before striking. Our response and conduct thereafter should attach primacy to unity and brotherhood," PM Modi said in a post on LinkedIn in February.

The government, while previously rejecting the US religious freedom report, had said: "India is proud of its secular credentials, its status as the largest democracy and a pluralistic society with a longstanding commitment to tolerance and inclusion".

"The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens, including its minority communities… We see no locus standi for a foreign entity/government to pronounce on the state of our citizens' constitutionally protected rights," the Foreign Ministry said in June last year.

According to the Home Ministry, 7,484 incidents of communal violence took place between 2008 and 2017, in which more than 1,100 people were killed.

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Agencies
June 7,2020

New Delhi, Jun 7: The Islamic Centre of India on Saturday issued an advisory for those visiting mosques in view of the Centre’s decision to allow reopening of religious places from June 8.

Islamic Centre of India chairman Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali advised people above 65 years and under 10 years of age not to visit mosques and instead offer prayers at home.

He also advised against crowding in mosques, stressing that not more than five people should be present at a time and social distancing be maintained, with the ‘namazis’ using masks and keeping a distance of six feet among themselves while offering prayers.

He added that the situation would be reviewed after 15 days and if required, another advisory would be issued.

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