Coffin: The casket at a funeral home in Singapore which will carry the body of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim
Six Indian men were charged with murder today
after the death of a woman gang-raped on a bus.The move came as armed police today sealed off parts off New Delhi and appealed for calm.
The 23-year-old student's body is being flown home after she 'passed away peacefully' in a Singapore hospital where she had been taken for specialist treatment.
Tragic: The body of the young woman is moved into the
funeral home by workers where she will be embalmed before being flown
home
Sad: Undertakers and hospital staff carry the body of the
Indian rape victim into a van as they leave Mount Elizabeth Hospital
Final journey: A police morgue vehicle is parked in front
of the Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore to retrieve the body
Riot gear: Indian policewomen stand guard at a checkpoint
following the death of the gang-rape victim
She suffered multiple organ failure and a
heart attack following the brutal assault on December 16 which has triggered
violent public protests.
Her horrific ordeal has galvanised Indians to
demand greater protection for women from sexual violence with mass
demonstrations, candle-lit vigils and
street protests with placards, chants and road blocks. One policeman has died in
the protests.
Hundreds of armed officers and riot troops
patrolled the capital, closing down a
number of metro railway stations and asked people not to travel into the
city.
Gatherings of more than five people have been
banned in the city centre.
A few hundred protesters arrived this morning
at the Jantar Mantar observatory, one of the areas of the city where
demonstrations are allowed, the BBC
reported.
The victim's family and officials from the
Indian High Commission were at her bedside when she lost her 13-day fight for
life.
In a
statement, Dr. Kevin Loh, the chief executive of Mount Elizabeth where she had
been treated since Thursday, said the team of doctors and nurses treating her
'join her family in mourning her loss,'
He added: 'Despite all efforts by a team of
eight specialists to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate
over these two days.
'She had suffered from severe organ failure
following serious injuries to her body and brain. She was courageous in fighting
for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too
severe for her to overcome.'
Indian High Commissioner, to Singapore T.C.A.
Raghanvan told reporters that the scale of the injuries she suffered was 'very
grave' and in the end it 'proved too much.'
Her body will be flown back to India
today.
She and a male friend were traveling in a
public bus in the evening when they were attacked by six men who raped her and
beat them both. They also inserted the rod in her body, stripped both naked and
threw them off the bus on a road after their hour-long ordeal.
It comes as another rape victim in India is
believed to have committed suicide after police took 14 days to register her
case and a further 30 days to make an arrest.
Protest: A woman has her mouth taped during a rally to
mourn the gang rape victim in New Delhi
Mourning: A protester with a taped mouth displays a moving
placard during the rally
The six suspects have all been remanded in
custody and two police officers suspended. In response to the protests, the
Indian government has promising to make
public the photographs, names and addresses of convicted rapists.
While the woman chief minister of India's West
Bengal state Mamata Banerjee, unveiled plans today for 65 all-female police
stations.
The rape has triggered widespread outrage and
calls for ensuring the safety of women who are subject to sexual harassment
ranging from groping to rape every day across India.
The Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh said: 'The issue of safety and security of women is of
the highest concern to our government.'
A commuter signs a board in protest against the gang rape.
Police have arrested six people in connection with the attack and they are all
remanded in custody
State of the art: transplant facilities at the Mount
Elizabeth Medical Centre in Singapore, where the gang-rape victim underwent
treatment, are said to be among the best in the world
The police officer killed during the protests
was a 47-year-old married father of three. He died after three days' in
hospital, according to news service Al Jazeera .
Eight people have been arrested and charged in
connection with his death.
A relative said.'It is the fault of the people. He was only doing his
duty and following police orders. But the public attacked him and killed him so
the people are responsible.'
Police said an autopsy showed the officer had
a heart attack that could have been caused by injuries suffered during violence
at the protest.
Peaceful: Protestors want the government to take action to
improve safety for women in India
An Associated Press journalist at the scene
said the officer was running toward the protesters with a group of police when
he collapsed on the ground and began frothing at the mouth and shaking. The
journalist said two protesters rushed to the officer to try to help
him.
During the days of protests, reports reveal
more than 100 people and about 70 officers have been hurt.
Police have used batons, teargas and water
cannon to try and disperse the demonstrators after the authorities attempted to
limit the public gatherings.
The Government has faced criticism for the use
of force against protesters, the failure to implement laws to protect women in
India's 'rape capital' and for how slow it has been to respond to the strength
of feeling
New Delhi: Activists of the All-India Democratic Women's
Association and YWCA students take part in a protest march from Rashtrapati
Bhawan to India gate against the gangrape of a girl, in New Delhi
Protesters demanding safer public
transportation for women and the resignation of Delhi's police commissioner
tried to march to the major India Gate traffic circle in central Delhi before
being stopped by police in riot gear manning barricades.
Protesters carried signs reading, 'Immediately
end rape culture in India' and 'Zero tolerance of violence against
women'.
Rape victims rarely press charges because of
social stigma and fear they will be accused of inviting the attack. Many women
say they structure their lives around protecting themselves and their daughters
from attack.
Some protesters have called for the death
penalty or castration for rapists, who under current laws face a maximum
punishment of life imprisonment.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged
today to take action to protect the nation's women.
Singh's government set up two committees in
response to the protests. One, looking into speeding up sexual assault trials,
has already received 6,100 email suggestions. The second will examine what
lapses might have contributed to the rape - which took place on a moving bus
that passed through police checkpoints - and suggest measures to improve women's
safety.
'Let me state categorically that the issue of
safety and security of women is of the highest concern to our government,' Singh
said at a development meeting. He urged officials in India's states to pay
special attention to the problem.
'There can be no meaningful development
without the active participation of half the population, and this participation
simply cannot take place if their security and safety is not assured,' he
said.
Medics' protest: Medical workers protester at LNJP
hospital against the recent gang-rape of a young woman in a moving bus in New
Delhi
Singh previously came under fire for remaining
largely silent after the rape. He issued a statement for the first time on
Sunday - a week after the crime.
The horrific sexual assault, which took place
on a bus on December 16, in New Delhi, lasted 40 minutes, according to the
Gulfnews.com, which states the men involved allegedly tricked the woman to board
the bus.
B.D. Athani, the medical superintendent of
Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, where the woman had been treated, said she
suffered severe intestinal and abdominal injuries, underwent three surgeries and
had parts of her intestines removed, according to the Press Trust of
India.
'With fortitude and courage, the girl survived
the after-effects of the injuries so far well. But the condition continues to be
critical,' he was quoted as saying.
Death sentence: Indian students are among those calling
for the death penalty for those found guilty of the brutal gang-rape
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