Published : Dec. 30, 2012 - 10:44
Indian protesters hold candles during a rally in New Delhi late December 29, 2012. (AFP)
The body of a gang-rape victim arrived back in New Delhi on Sunday after her death from sickening injuries in a Singapore hospital as India was engulfed by a mass outpouring of grief and anger.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was at Indira Gandhi International Airport for the arrival of the specially-chartered plane when it touched down at around 4:15 a.m., according to security sources and an AFP journalist at the scene.
A convoy carrying the gold-colored coffin and the victim’s parents then drove towards the Janakpuri district of Delhi where she had been living while studying for a degree in medicine. The area was sealed off to journalists.
The 23-year-old‘s body was repatriated barely three days after she was flown to a Singapore hospital in a desperate final bid to save her life.
Thousands of people took part in late-night candlelit vigils for the medical student who has been the focus of a wave of protests ever since she was savagely attacked by a gang of men on a bus two weeks ago.
As police said the six accused of murdering the unnamed woman could face the death penalty, Singh led appeals for calm to prevent a repeat of the sometimes violent protests that followed the December 16 assault.
Thousands took part in fresh demonstrations on Saturday but they passed off peacefully as mourners vowed the student’s killing would serve as a tipping point for how the nation deals with violence against women.
Doctors who had been treating her at Singapore‘s Mount Elizabeth Hospital after she was airlifted there on Thursday were unable to prevent multiple organ failure and she died before dawn on Saturday.
No details of her funeral have been released.
Protesters who gathered in the Jantar Mantar thoroughfare in central Delhi, scene of the largest protest, said the death was a wake-up call for a country in denial about the levels of violence that women face.
The numbers swelled into the evening, with some 5,000 taking part in a candlelit vigil after nightfall despite near freezing temperatures.
Similar protests and vigils were held in other cities including Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.
Bela Rana, who was among the protesters in Delhi, said women were no longer prepared to suffer in silence.
“We are aware that this is not the first case, nor will it be the last case of gang-rape in India, but it is clear that we will not tolerate sex crimes any more,” said Rana, a Delhi-based lawyer.
Some of the protesters carried placards that read “Hang the Rapist” against the backdrop of a noose.
While six men who had already been arrested have yet to be formally charged, they are now accused of murder.
“It is a non-bailable offence which carries the death sentence,” police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told AFP.
Gang-rapes are a daily occurrence in India and many go unreported by victims who have little faith in an often painfully slow justice system and are deterred by the response they can receive from male police officers.
But the particularly savage nature of the attack in Delhi has brought simmering anger to a boiling point and prompted the government to promise better security for women and harsher sentences for sex crimes.
After being lured onto a bus, the student was attacked by the men who took turns raping her and assaulted her with an iron bar before throwing her and her male companion off the moving vehicle.
“We have already seen the emotions and energies this incident has generated,” said Singh.
“These are perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change.”
As crowds mourned the student’s death in Singapore, the Press Trust of India reported a new series of sex attacks, including the gang-rape of a 14-year-old girl who then tried to commit suicide by swallowing poison in Gujarat state.
And an 18-year-old rape victim committed suicide in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh after police allegedly failed to take action against the accused. (AFP)
성폭행 여대생 사망에 전국 분노 폭발
인도 뉴델리의 심야버스에서 집단 성폭행과 심한 구타를 당해 싱가포르 병원으로까지 옮겨져 치료를 받던 20대 여대생 피해자가 끝내 숨지자 인도 국민들이 전역에서 슬픔과 분노를 표출하고 나섰다.
수도 뉴델리를 비롯한 인도의 대도시마다 만모한 싱 정부에 여성에 대한 범죄에 보다 강력히 대응할 것을 요구하는 평화시위가 개최됐고, 지난 22일과 23일에는 이를 촉구하는 보다 과격한 양상의 시위가 일어나기도 했다.
인도 북부 루크노우에서는 수천 명의 집회 참가자들이 거리를 점거하고 평화시위를 벌였으며, 남부의 하이데라바드에서는 여성들이 범인들에 대한 강력한 처벌을 요구하며 거리를 행진했다.
이밖에 첸나이ㆍ콜카다ㆍ뭄바이 등 대도시에서도 희생된 여대생의 죽음을 추모하는 평화시위가 열렸다.
인도 정치 지도자들도 앞다퉈 그녀의 죽음에 애도를 표하며 ‘여성에 대한 치욕스런 사회적 행동’을 바꾸기 위한 대책 마련을 약속했다.
만모한 싱 총리는 여대생이 숨을 거둔 뒤 내놓은 성명서에서 “모든 정파와 시민사회는 계파의 이해관계에서 벗어나 여성들이 보다 행복하고 안전하게 살 수 있도록 인도를 개조하려는 우리의 열망을 이루도록 하자”고 강조했다.
여대생의 죽음은 여성범죄에 무심했던 인도인들을 각성시키는 계기가 되고 있다.
분노한 젊은이들은 정부에 약속한 대책을 신속히 집행할 것으로 촉구했으며, 인기 연예인들도 시위에 참가, 여성범죄에 대한 강한 처벌을 요구했다.
뉴델리 중심도로에서 열린 평화집회에 참가한 벨라 라나(변호사)는 “이번 사건은 처음있는 일도 아니고, 끝날 일도 아니다. 하지만, 우리는 더는 끔찍한 성범죄를 참고 넘어가지 않을 것이다”고 말했다.
인도에서는 지난 2011년 경찰에 신고된 강간사건만 2만4천여건에 이른다. 성추행, 성희롱 및 납치 범죄는 22만8천600여건에 이른다. 사회단체들은 신고되지 않은 사건은 이보다 훨씬 더 많을 것으로 보고 있다.
이 여대생은 이날 오전 4시45분께 싱가포르 마운트 엘리자베스 병원에서 가족 등이 지켜보는 가운데 숨졌으며, 몇 시간 후 현지 인도 외교관에 인도돼 병원이 마련한 황금색 관에 안치됐다.
현재 그녀의 부모와 함께 영구차에 실려 공항으로 옮겨졌으며 비행기 편으로 인도로 돌아가면 일정 절차에 따라 장례식을 치를 예정이다.
또 경찰에 체포돼 조사를 받고 있는 6명의 가해자들은 살인혐의로 기소됐다.
인도 뉴델리 경찰 대변인 라잔 바가트는 “만약 유죄가 선고되면 가해자들은 사형에 처해질 것”이라 밝혔다.
피해자는 지난 16일 밤 남자친구와 함께 버스를 타고 가던 중 남성 6명에게 잇따라 성폭행과 구타를 당한 뒤 버스 밖으로 버려졌다.