The final rites of the 23-year-old gang rape victim of Delhi were performed with state honours today at 7.30 am. The chief minister of Delhi Shiela Dikshit and minister of state for home affairs were present at the funeral of the young woman, who became a symbol of bravery . It may be noted that The Broadcast Editors' Association (BEA) asked news channels not to cover gang rape victim's funeral in order to protect the privacy of the victim's family.
The body of the woman was received in a special flight at 3.30 am at Delhi airport. The prime minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were present at the airport when the body arrived. The duo once again paid their condolenses to the woman once again. It may be noted that Sonia Gandhi yesterday was in full tears when she condoled her death. Even Jaya Bachchan broke in front of the media when she paid her deepest condolences to the victim.
Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar was grief stricken and said that the girl should have lived. She said victim sacrificed her life. Meanwhile, silent protests are going on across the country for quicker justice and better laws to punish the rape accused.
It may be recalled that a physiotherapy student, on December 16, boarded a chartered bus along with her friend in Delhi at around 9 pm. The six persons aboard on the bus including driver soon attacked the couple and brutally raped the girl on the bus as it moved in the posh areas of the city. She was further beaten badly with iron rods and then thrown out of the bus naked. She there lied on the road in a pool of blood for quite sometime in a helpless situation until a pedestrian informed the police about the victim.
The victim was then shifted to Safdarjung hospital where she underwent three life saving surgeries after which she was eventually air lifted to a hospital in Singapore where she succumbed to injured in the wee hours of Saturday.
The young daughter of India and sister of all young men in the country left everyone in pain. But she continues to dwell in hearts of crores of Indians. Her sacrifice shouldn't go in vain, let there be a new legislation against rapes named after her.
A part of every sincere Indians' lives went away with the victim's death. May her soul rest in peace!
(AW Phani)
