Private funeral for rape victim

Amid an outpouring of anger, anguish and grief across the country, the body of the 23-year-old paramedical student, who was gang-raped in a moving bus in South Delhi, was flown to the national capital from Singapore early on Sunday morning, and cremated, away from public glare, within hours.

The pyre was lit by her sobbing father and brothers at a crematorium in Dwarka, Sector 24 — close to the house where the girl had lived in southwest Delhi.

The crematorium was surrounded by at least 100 police officers when her last rites were being performed. An equal number of Rapid Action Force personnel were also deployed outside the facility.

The pyre was lit at 7.35 am when the fog had cleared and there was some visibility on the ground.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, Minister of State for Home Affairs R P N Singh, West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra, and Delhi BJP chief Vijender Gupta were present during the cremation. The media was not allowed and even otherwise, most of the audio-visual media had decided to keep away from the cremation of the victim, respecting the privacy of the family.

R P N Singh asked the father of the deceased for forgiveness and assured that the government would leave no stone unturned in bringing the guilty to justice.

Later, the 45-year-old mother of the student fainted and was rushed to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where doctors described her condition as “stable”. A doctor attending on her said “she was suffering from grief” and “that is why she fell unconscious after the cremation”.