Indian Rape Victim is ‘Struggling Against the Odds’

Posted December 28th, 2012 at 1:45 am (UTC-5)
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A Singapore hospital that is treating the Indian student who was brutally gang raped in New Delhi earlier this month says the young woman is fighting for her life and has suffered a “significant brain injury.”

Kelvin Loh, CEO of Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said Friday that in addition to the brain injury, the 23-year-old victim had suffered cardiac arrest in India where she had undergone three abdominal surgeries. He said she also has an infection in her lungs and abdomen and is “struggling against the odds.”

Loh said the woman arrived at the facility early Thursday in “extremely critical condition.”

The woman was traveling on a charter bus on December 16 when a group of men on board raped and beat her with an iron rod and then threw her from the bus.

Police have arrested six alleged attackers, who are accused of rape and attempted murder.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a development conference Thursday that attacks against women happen “in all states and regions” and require greater attention from national and local officials.

He said India cannot have meaningful development without the active participation of women, and that their security must be assured.

The government on Wednesday announced a commission that will review police response to the attack, while another panel is tasked with suggesting ways to make the capital safer for women as well as changes to the law to create stiffer penalties for such crimes.

In a new measure aimed at combating violence against women, India's junior home minister said the names and photos of convicted rapists will be posted on a ministry website to publicly shame them.

The gang rape has sparked days of widespread protests in New Delhi urging the government to address crimes against women. On Thursday, hundreds of demonstrators tried to march to government buildings in the capital but were stopped by riot police armed with tear gas and water cannons.