NEW DELHI — A young woman who had been in critical condition since she was raped two weeks ago by a group of men who lured her onto a bus in Delhi died early today, an official at the hospital in Singapore that was caring for her said.
The woman, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student whose rape on Dec. 16 had served as a reminder of the dangerous conditions women face in India, “died peacefully,” according to a statement by Kelvin Loh, the chief executive of Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.
The woman, whose intestines were removed because of injuries caused by a metal rod used during the rape, has not been identified. She was flown to Singapore earlier this week after being treated at a local hospital.
“The patient had remained in an extremely critical condition,” the statement said. “She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds, but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome.”
The police have arrested six people in connection with the attack, according to Indian officials.
Revulsion and anger over the attack have galvanized India, where women regularly face sexual harassment and assault and where neither the police nor the judicial system is seen as adequately protecting them.
Angry protesters thronged central Delhi after the attack was made public and assembled in other major cities, demanding better protection from police and better treatment overall for women. Some protesters and politicians have called for the death penalty for rapists.
Top officials now say that change is needed.
Meanwhile, the family of an 18-year-old woman in the northern Indian state of Punjab who committed suicide Wednesday after being raped last month by two men blamed police for her death.
Relatives of the woman say she killed herself because police delayed registering the case or arresting the rapists.
If the police “had done their job, she would be alive today,” the woman’s sister, Charanjit Kaur, 28, said in a phone interview. “They didn’t listen to us; they didn’t act.”
On Friday, the Punjab high court intervened, asking police to explain their delay.Three police officers have been suspended in the case, according to news media reports. Punjab police officials did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
Kaur said her sister was abducted by two men from a place of worship near the small town of Badshahpur on Nov. 13 and was drugged and raped repeatedly.
When the woman reported the episode at the local police station a few days later, she was asked to describe it in graphic detail and was “humiliated,” her sister said.
The victim was stalked and harassed by the men accused of the rape, who threatened to kill her and her family if she refused to drop the complaint, her suicide note said.
“They have ruined my life,” the note read, according to Kaur.
The note names two men and a woman who purportedly helped the other two men as they kidnapped her. Those two men have now been arrested, police said Friday.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/29/2012