Thursday, December 27, 2012

India gang-rape victim in ‘extremely critical condition’




A young woman gang raped on a New Delhi bus was in dire condition as she underwent even more treatment in a Singapore hospital to save her life.
Dr. Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of the Singapore hospital, told Reuters Thursday the woman was in “an extremely critical condition.”
“Prior to her arrival, she has already undergone three abdominal surgeries, and experienced a cardiac arrest in India,” Loh said. “A multidisciplinary team of specialists is taking care of her and doing everything possible to stabilize her condition.”
The 23-year-old student had been airlifted late Wednesday to the intensive care unit of Mt. Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, a hospital known for its expertise in multi-organ transplants, after a week of intensive care treatment in a hospital in Delhi.
She had been raped by six men, beaten and thrown from a moving bus on Dec. 16.
“Since the day of the incident, it has been our endeavour to provide her the best of care,” Indian Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in a statement.
The government pledged to make arrangements for her family to join her “as the treatment may stretch to many weeks.”
The junior minister for home affairs, meanwhile, was quoted as promising the government would publish the names, photos and addresses of convicted rapists on government websites.
“We are planning to start in Delhi,” Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh said at a news conference, according to Agence France Presse.
The details would appear on the Delhi Police website www.delhipolice.nic.in and the National Crime Records Bureau site ncrb.nic.in, he said.
In Delhi, police beat back a fresh attempt Thursday to protest the attack, which has become a flashpoint for Indian women who are exposed to daily harassment and violence, Reuters reported.
Hundreds of activists who gathered to march on India Gate were stopped by police in riot gear armed with tear gas and water cannons.
“We will win back our freedom!” the protesters, mostly university students, shouted as they pushed against barricades on a road leading to the city's landmark monument. They were demanding safer public transportation and the resignation of the police commissioner.
New Delhi has the highest number of sex attacks among India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to the National Crimes Records Bureau.
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.
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.
Protests have shut down the centre of the capital for days since the rape. Police quashed some of the demonstrations with tear gas, water cannons and baton charges.
One police officer died Tuesday after collapsing during a weekend protested. Police said an autopsy showed the officer had a heart attack that could have been caused by injuries suffered during violence at the protest.
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.
Two protesters rushed to the officer to try to help him. Police charged eight people with murder in the death of the policeman.
Police said the rape victim was travelling on the evening of Dec. 16 with a male friend on a bus when they were attacked by six men who gang-raped her and beat the couple with iron rods before stripping them and dumping them on a road. All six suspects in the case have been arrested, police said.
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.

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