Delhi gang-rape victim’s father hoped she would live

London, Jan 9 (IANS) The father of the 23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim, who died at a Singapore hospital late last month, has said he was optimist about his daughter getting well and surviving the brutal assault.

The girl was brutally gang-raped while returning along with a friend from a cinema by six individuals Dec 16 in a moving bus in New Delhi. She died 13 days later after suffering multi-organ failure at a Singapore hospital.

Describing her desperate battle for life and final days, the father, who mentioned how the horrific attack has awakened India to the desperate plight of women, said: “I thought she might get better and live.”

The father (name withheld due to legal reasons) said even though his daughter, a trainee physiotherapist, suffered horrific injuries in the sexual assault, he knew she was “in a bad state” and still believed she might recover after being taken to hospital in Singapore, Daily Mail reported.

Speaking to ITV1’s Daybreak, the father said: ‘When we went to Singapore she was not conscious but she had tears in her eyes. Then I realised she was in a really bad state.

“I couldn’t think what to do at that time, I was like a bird without wings, I was neither here nor there … So when I thought she might get better, I used to get filled with some hope. When I was told that she might not get well and might have to have an operation I felt uncomfortable.

“It was difficult for me, but when she was put on ventilator it gave me some hope that she would get better. I thought she might get better and she would live.”

Though his daughter could not survive, the father said she “brought an awakening” to Indian society. He said he would like to see a new law or a hospital named after his daughter.

Talking about his daughter, he said she always wanted to be a doctor. “Her main aim was that our family shouldn’t have to suffer any more. She wanted to put the difficult life behind us, wipe out our poverty. She also wanted to make sure I didn’t have to keep working hard late in life.”

IANS 2013-01-09 20:28:02