"Want her back home": Family of Delhi rape survivor
The 20-year-old woman, who was allegedly abducted, sexually assaulted, tortured, and paraded by her neighbors in Delhi last week, is recovering, away from her family and three-year-old boy. She is not mentally stable to take care of her child, said her family. Last week, the woman was paraded through the streets with her head tonsured, face blackened, and a garland of shoes.
'Just want my daughter back'
"No girl, no daughter should have to go through this. Not on any street or in any lane," said the woman's father. "I don't care about justice, I want my daughter back home," he added. The entire family is in shock that no one tried to help the woman. Notably, four men and eight women have been arrested so far.
The reason behind the humiliation
The cause appears to be that she did not reciprocate the feelings of a 14-year-old boy who was apparently infatuated with her and died by suicide in November. "His family blames my sister for their son's death," said the woman's sister. The attackers were mostly ladies and teenage boys from the deceased boy's family, who are neighbors of the victim in Kasturba Nagar.
Videos show the horrific assault
In videos showing the horrific assault, she is thrashed mercilessly and voices indicate how she should be hit. As she gets slapped and kicked, young boys join in. One woman begins cutting off her hair. Women cheered on her attackers as she was allegedly raped. Another footage shows her being dragged on the street by a crowd, who cheers as she is brutally beaten.
BJP, Congress leaders visit woman's family
"Gautam Gambhir from BJP visited us, so did Anil Choudhary from Congress," the woman's father told NDTV. "We have been given ration for two months without even asking. We are being offered support and help. Who helps otherwise? Even if one begs, they don't get so much help," he added. "If people had shown some support then, this wouldn't have happened," said her sister.
Delhi police denied rumors of the victim killing herself
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has trashed rumors that the woman has died by suicide and termed them as an attempt to create trouble before elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. According to central government sources cited by NDTV, intelligence agencies have warned that social media influencers from Canada, UK, and the US are trying to incite violence by exploiting sensitive incidents like this.
Politicians react to the incident
"The bitter truth is that many Indians don't consider women to be human. This shameful fact needs to be acknowledged and called out," tweeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. "I assure that these animals (men and women) will not be spared," tweeted BJP MP from Delhi Gautam Gambhir. "The people of Delhi will not tolerate such crimes," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.
