A young woman who was gang raped in India was flown to Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore hospital for treatment Thursday.(Photo: Wong Maye-E, AP)
NEW DELHI -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged
Thursday to take action to protect the nation's women while the young
victim of a gang rape on a New Delhi bus was flown to Singapore for
treatment of severe internal injuries.
The Dec. 16 rape and brutal
beating of the 23-year-old student triggered widespread protests,
including a march on Thursday, demanding a government crackdown on the
daily harassment Indian women face, ranging from groping to severe
violence. Some protesters have called for the death penalty or
castration for rapists, who under current laws face a maximum punishment
of life imprisonment.
Rape victims rarely press charges because
of social stigma and fear they will be accused of inviting the attack.
Many women say they structure their lives around protecting themselves
and their daughters from attack.
Singh's government set up two committees in response to the protests.
One, looking into speeding up sexual assault trials, has already
received 6,100 email suggestions. The second will examine what lapses
might have contributed to the rape - which took place on a moving bus
that passed through police checkpoints - and suggest measures to improve
women's safety.
"Let me state categorically that the issue of
safety and security of women is of the highest concern to our
government," Singh said at a development meeting. He urged officials in
India's states to pay special attention to the problem.
"There can
be no meaningful development without the active participation of half
the population, and this participation simply cannot take place if their
security and safety is not assured," he said.
The victim of the
gang rape arrived in Singapore on an air ambulance Thursday and was
admitted in "extremely critical condition," to the intensive care unit
of the Mount Elizabeth hospital, renowned for multi-organ transplant
facilities, the hospital said in a statement.
India's Home
Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in a statement that the government,
which is funding and overseeing the victim's treatment, had decided to
send her abroad on the recommendation of her doctors.
"Despite the
best efforts of our doctors, the victim continues to be critical and
her fluctuating health remains a big cause of concern to all of us," he
said.
Her family was also being sent to Singapore to be with her during her treatment, which could last weeks, he said.
Meanwhile,
hundreds of protesters demanding safer public transportation for women
and the resignation of Delhi's police commissioner tried to march to the
major India Gate traffic circle in central Delhi before being stopped
by police in riot gear manning barricades. Protesters carried signs
reading, "Immediately end rape culture in India" and "Zero tolerance of
violence against women."
Protests have shut down the center of the
capital for days since the rape. Police quashed some of the
demonstrations with tear gas, water cannons and baton charges.
One
police officer died Tuesday after collapsing during a weekend protest.
Police said an autopsy showed the officer had a heart attack that could
have been caused by injuries suffered during violence at the protest. An
Associated Press journalist at the scene said the officer was running
toward the protesters with a group of police when he collapsed on the
ground and began frothing at the mouth and shaking. Two protesters
rushed to the officer to try to help him. Police charged eight people
with murder in the death of the policeman.
Police said the rape
victim was traveling on the evening of Dec. 16 with a male friend on a
bus when they were attacked by six men who gang-raped her and beat the
couple with iron rods before stripping them and dumping them on a road.
All six suspects in the case have been arrested, police said.
B.D.
Athani, the medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi,
where the woman had been treated, said she suffered severe intestinal
and abdominal injuries, underwent three surgeries and had parts of her
intestines removed, according to the Press Trust of India.
"With
fortitude and courage, the girl survived the aftereffects of the
injuries so far well. But the condition continues to be critical," he
was quoted as saying.
Associated Press