In the wake of the case of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student whose gang rape and murder sparked global fury, her boyfriend has finally decided to speak out.
The 28-year-old man who witnessed the entire 16th December incident of his girlfriend’s brutal rape and assault suffered a fractured leg and other injuries, but he survived. However, he probably wouldn’t be able to survive the recounting of the savagery that was inflicted on his girlfriend that night.
Whilst still trying to deal with his own trauma over his failed efforts to fend off the six men, he said:
What can I say? The cruelty I saw should not be seen ever. I was not very confident about getting into the bus but my friend was running late, so we got into it. This was the biggest mistake I made and after that everything went out of control.
The driver of the bus made lewd remarks and his accomplices joined him to taunt us. I told the driver to stop the bus but by then, his accomplices had locked the two doors. They hit me with a small stick and dragged her to a seat near the driver’s cabin. After that, the driver and the other men raped her and hit her in the worst possible ways in the most private parts of her body. I tried to fight against the men but later I begged them again and again to leave her. I cannot tell you what I feel when I think of it. I shiver in pain.
After throwing us off the bus, they tried to mow us down but I saved my friend by pulling her away in the nick of time. We were without clothes. We tried to stop passersby. Several auto rickshaws, cars and bikes slowed down but none stopped for about 25 minutes. Then, someone on patrolling, stopped and called the police.
Even at the hospital, we were made to wait and I had to literally beg for clothes. I asked one ‘safai karamchari’ to give me some clothes or curtains and he asked me to wait. But the clothes never came. I then borrowed a stranger’s mobile and called my relatives, but just told them that I had met with an accident. My treatment started only after my relatives came.
(Source)
During the phone interview on Friday from Gorakhpur, he also said that he deplored the apathy of the police and passers-by who did little to help the unclothed victim at the end of the nearly hour-long ordeal. The police who came to their rescue all wanted to help solve the case before getting them the right treatment.
The body of the 23-year-old Indian woman was flown back to New Delhi from Singapore and cremated in the city on Sunday morning within hours of landing amid tight security. The protests march on and cries for justice continues to sound off all across India.
Meanwhile, the names of the six men who have been arrested in connection with the gruesome rape and murder have been released. They are:
- Ram Singh, the bus driver, 33 years old
- Mukesh Singh, the bus driver’s brother, 26 years old
- Akshay Thakur, a bus washer, 24 years old
- Vinay Sharma, an assistant gym instructor, 20 years old
- Pavan Gupta, a fruit seller, 19 years old
- Muhammad Afroz aka Raju, the 17 years and eight months old minor
A Delhi district court is expected to start the process of bringing the five adult suspects to trial, where they could face the death penalty if convicted. The sixth suspect, who is 17 years and eight months old, has been identified as juvenile and proceedings against him will be conducted by the Juvenile Justice Board. Which means that he will be prosecuted separately However, due to certain loopholes in Juvenile Justice Act, there are chances that he may go scot free in a few months’ time.
(Source)
The five accused have been chargesheeted under the IPC (Indian Penal Code) Sections:
- 302 (Murder)
- 307 (Attempt to murder)
- 376 (2)(g) (Gang-rape)
- 377 (Unnatural offences)
- 395 (Dacoity)
- 396 (Murder in dacoity)
- 365 (Kidnapping or abduction with intent to secretly or wrongfully confine a person)
- 394 (Hurting in dacoity)
- 201 (Destruction of evidence)
- 120B (Conspiracy)
- 34 (Common intention)
- 412 (Dishonestly receiving stolen property)
- 397 (Robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt)
(Source)
Suspects are to appear in court Monday. More to come as the story unfolds.
