Singapore, Dec 29: The 23-year-old victim of the brutal gang rape and assault in Delhi that had triggered an outrage across India died early this morning here after putting up a brave battle for life for nearly a fortnight.
The girl, who was admitted to the well-known multi-organ transplant facility Mount Elizabeth Hospital here on Thursday morning in an extremely critical condition, breathed her last at 4:45 AM (2:15 AM India time). She was earlier treated at the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.
“We are very sad to report that the patient passed away peacefully at 4.45am on 29 Dec 2012 (Singapore time),” the hospital's Chief Executive Officer Dr Kelvin Loh said in a statement.
“Her family and officials from the High Commission of India were by her side. The Mount Elizabeth Hospital team of doctors, nurses and staff join her family in mourning her loss,” the statement said.
The body has been moved to the mortuary in the Singapore General Hospital and will be flown back to India by a chartered plane.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a host of political leaders condoled the death of the girl and paid rich tributes to the victim of the sexual assault for her brave fight.
The girl was raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus by six men in Delhi on December 16 and thrown out along with her companion.
Indian High Commissioner T C A Raghavan told reporters that the family was yet to decide on the plans for the last rites back home.
He said the girl fought a brave battle till the end. She was brought to Singapore for being provided good medical treatment.
The beastial attack on the girl and her male friend in the bus had sparked off protests by students and women activists which took a violent turn in the capital last Saturday and Sunday.
Death for rapists was one of the demands of the protesters and the victim's demise could trigger fresh display of emotions on the streets. One of the Delhi police constables Subhash Chand Tomar died in a government hospital on Tuesday and the post-mortem report had said that he had suffered a cardiac arrest from complications arising out of injuries on his chest and neck.
Shaken by the public outrage, government constituted a Commission of Inquiry into the incident and also set up a three-member Committee under former Supreme Court Chief Justice A S Anand to look into the possibility of rewriting the laws relating to aggravated sexual assault and enhancing penalty for it.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi had yesterday demanded speedy action against the perpetrators of the "barbarous" attack while Prime Minister said the government was committed to bringing the guilty to justice as soon as possible.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 29 Dec 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 29 Dec 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 30 Dec 2012 00:00:00 IST