Indian gang-rape victim fights for her life

Demonstrators shout slogans as police confront them during an anti-rape protest rally in New Delhi on Thursday. Adnan Abidi / Reuters

 

An Indian gang-rape victim was "struggling against the odds" to survive on Friday after suffering a heart attack and brain injuries, as medics criticized a decision to fly her to Singapore.

In a bulletin issued the day after her arrival in Singapore, doctors at Mount Elizabeth Hospital said the 23-year-old is battling an infection in her lungs and remains critically ill after the December 16 assault in New Delhi.

"The patient is currently struggling against the odds and fighting for her life," Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of the hospital, said in a statement.

"Our medical team's investigations upon her arrival at the hospital on Thursday showed that in addition to her prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury," he added.

"A multi-disciplinary team of specialists has been working tirelessly to treat her since her arrival and is doing everything possible to stabilize her condition over the next few days."

On Thursday night, the hospital said the woman, who is a student in New Delhi, had undergone "three abdominal surgeries and experienced a cardiac arrest in India" as it gave the first detailed rundown of her condition.

The woman was treated at New Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital after being thrown off a bus in the capital. Six men took turns to rape her at the back of the vehicle.

She also suffered severe intestinal injuries as a result of being assaulted with an iron bar, according to police and prosecutors.

The decision to fly her in a special air ambulance was taken at a meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet on Wednesday, the government having promised to pay all her medical bills.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the government's only concern was to ensure the victim received the best treatment possible.

"The doctors of Safdarjung Hospital and those from (the) trauma center - were called and consulted," he told reporters.

However, newspapers have suggested that the authorities, which have struggled to contain nationwide protests over the attack, were keen to have her transferred out of the country.

An unnamed doctor, who was part of a team of experts consulted about the transfer, told The Hindu newspaper they had only been asked whether it was safe to move her rather than if it was the best course of action.

"The question was not whether there were any deficiencies in treatment that would be met by moving her ... She was being given the best possible care."

Samiran Nundy, chairman of the organ transplant and gastro-surgery department of New Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, told the paper the transfer made little sense.

"I just can't understand why a critically ill patient with infections in her blood and body, a high-grade fever and on the ventilator is being transferred," he said.

"It will take weeks in this case to even look into the possibility of an intestinal transplant. So why hurry and take the patient out from a facility which works so well? It seems more of a political move."

Singh has ordered an official inquiry into the gang rape and promised new laws to protect women as well as stiffer penalties for the worst sex crimes.

The government has announced plans to post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to publicly shame them. The campaign will begin in New Delhi, which has been dubbed India's "rape capital".

Shinde also said that New Delhi police will soon launch a drive to recruit more female officers as a confidence-building measure.

"Every police station should have women police personnel," the minister said.

"I have suggested that each of the 166 police stations in Delhi should have at least one woman officer. We don't have enough to meet that target yet, but I told them that as many as possible should be deployed until we recruit more women."

Daily crime

The gang rape has shone the spotlight on a crime that occurs on a daily basis in India, with most such assaults taking place in rural areas.

Police said on Friday that a 15-year-old schoolgirl had her throat slit after being gang-raped in the Pali Muqimpure area of Uttar Pradesh state.

A hunt has been launched for three youths after the attack on Thursday, said a report by the Press Trust of India.

A 17-year-old Indian girl who was gang-raped during the festival of Diwali on November 13 in the Patiala region in Punjab committed suicide after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers, police and a relative said on Thursday.

One police officer has been sacked and another suspended over their conduct, according to officials.

The teenager was found dead on Wednesday night after swallowing poison.

Inspector General Paramjit Singh Gill said the teenager had been "running from pillar to post to get her case registered", but officers failed to open a formal inquiry.

"One of the officers tried to convince her to withdraw the case," said the police chief for the area.

Before her death, there had been no arrests over her case although three people were detained on Thursday. Two of them were her alleged male attackers and the third was a suspected woman accomplice.

The victim's sister said the teenager had been urged to either accept a cash settlement or marry one of her attackers.

"The police started pressuring her to either reach a financial settlement with her attackers or marry one of them," her sister told the NDTV network.

Meanwhile, the Press Trust of India reported that a police officer has been suspended for allegedly refusing to register a rape complaint in the northern state of Chhattisgar.

The woman and her husband later brought the case to the attention of a more senior officer, and a hunt has now been launched for her attacker, an auto rickshaw driver.

Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year in India were against women.

The real figure is thought to be much higher as so many women are reluctant to report attacks to the police.