Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Gang-rape victim's condition worsens: Doctors

NEW DELHI: The condition the 23-year-old victim who was gang-raped in a running bus has worsened due to internal bleeding but her vital parameters remain stable, doctors said.

"Her conditions is bad and serious compared to yesterday (Sunday) due to internal bleeding," P.K. Verma, ICU in-charge at the Safdarjung Hospital, told reporters.

Verma said the good part is that despite internal bleeding, her white blood cell count and platelet count remain stable.

"She continues to be critical but her kidneys are making urine and lungs are fine. She is conscious and communicating," he said.

Verma said that internal bleeding was due to infection and fresh blood plasma was injected.

Two police officers suspended

Two Delhi Police officers have been suspended for not stopping the bus with tinted windows in which a 23-year-old woman was raped, Lt. Governor Tejendra Singh announced Monday.

He identified them as assistant commissioners Mohan Singh Dabas of Delhi Traffic Police and Yad Ram of Police Control Room (PCR).

"(They) have been suspended on my orders ... for dereliction of duty," he told a news conference.

He said deputy commissioners Prem Nath of Delhi Traffic Police and Satyavir Singh Katara of PCR had been asked to explain their conduct vis-a-vis the police failure, Singh said.

Delhi police official said the horrific incident took place when the young couple reached Munirka in south Delhi around 9.15 pm Sunday after watching a movie and boarded a stationary bus to go to Dwarka.

Shinde compares students to Maoists

Shinde, in a remark immediately condemned as thoughtless and insensitive, compared the student protestors to armed Maoists, while the prime minister's address to the nation reassuring safety to women was seen as too little too late.

The government's insensitivity was amply evident from Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's statement that the students protesting this heinous act were wrong in marching to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

A defiant Shinde said: "It's very easy to say that the Home Minister should go to meet the [Delhi gang-rape] protestors. Tomorrow if Maoists demonstrate with weapons, will I go and meet them too?"

This infuriated the protestors immensely and they reacted sharply to the home minister's statement questioning how could the nation's home minister equate peaceful protestors with Maoists.

PM appeals for peace

In an unusual televised address, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for calm after the weekend clashes in New Delhi and vowed to punish the rapists for their monstrous crime.

The prime minister, in his television address, said: "There is genuine and justified anger and anguish at this ghastly incident." He added: "I assure you that we will make all possible efforts to ensure security and safety of women in this country."

The prime minister referred to the steps earlier announced by Home Minister Shushilkumar Shinde and said: "The home minister has already spoken about the steps being taken. We will examine without delay not only the responses to this terrible crime but also all aspects concerning the safety of women and children."

"Our government will keep you informed of the steps taken. I appeal to all sections of society to maintain peace and help us in our efforts," the prime minister said, adding: "As a father of three daughters, I feel as strongly about the incident as any other. We will ensure justice is delivered in the case."

What happened on Sunday?

Around six men in the bus, including the driver and conductor, allegedly misbehaved with the woman. When the boyfriend intervened, he was beaten up. She was then sexually assaulted in the moving bus.

The girl and her boyfriend were then thrown out of the bus under Mahipalpur flyover in south Delhi. The assailants snatched their mobiles.

A toll plaza patrol vehicle spotted them and called the police, who took them to Safdarjung Hospital around 12.15 a.m. Monday.

The woman's ordeal, a police officer said, lasted for 45 long minutes.

Both victims were pushed out of the bus at Mahipalpur in south Delhi after their mobile phones were snatched.

A police vehicle rushed them to hospital past midnight after being tipped off by a toll plaza patrol that a young man and a young woman were sprawled by the roadside.

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