Unmasked at last: mother comes face to face with men accused of raping and killing her daughter in India

Family issues plea for justice in bus rape case that shocked India

ANDREW BUNCOMBE DELHI-SATURDAY 18 MAY 2013

The mother of a student who died after being gang-raped on a bus in Delhi came face to face with her alleged attackers for the first time and broke down in tears, pleading: “Please bring justice for my daughter.”

The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was at the court in Delhi with her husband and one of her two sons to testify against four men charged over the attack last December. Vinay Sharma, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Thakur have all pleaded not guilty and face the death penalty if convicted.

Under Indian law, the name of the victim – a physiotherapy student from Billia in Uttar Pradesh state – and the victim’s family, cannot be published.

“We want justice,” said the quietly-spoken mother, dressed in a pink sari and wiping tears from her face as she sat outside the courtroom, having given her testimony. “My daughter went through such a lot of atrocities and we want justice.”

Asked whether she had looked at the men accused of killing her daughter, she said they had been sitting just a few feet away from her. “I saw them face to face.”

The victim’s brother, who went into the courtroom to support his parents, claimed the suspects were smiling. “I wanted to slap them. I had to stop myself. I had to be strong,” the 20-year-old said. “They were shameless.”

International media have been prohibited from attending the proceedings but Indian reporters who heard the evidence said the mother sat in the witness box and recalled how she frantically tried to call her daughter on the night of the assault. “She left the house at 4pm and informed me that she was going to the market to purchase some goods and watch a movie with her friend, Awindra [Pandey],” she said. “When she had not come back at 9pm I made a call but her mobile phone was switched off.”

She said she had tried to call Mr Pandey’s phone but it was also turned off. “At around 11.15pm, I received a call from the Delhi police control room saying that an incident had happened with my girl and she had been taken to Safdarjung hospital,” she added.

The mother said that as her daughter’s conditioned worsened, she and her family flew to Singapore with her for specialist emergency treatment. Her daughter died there on 29 December and her body was later returned to them at Delhi airport.

Questioned by some of the lawyers for the accused, the mother said that on the day her daughter was flown to Singapore, grievously ill, the student was not well enough to talk to her. “My daughter was not able to speak a single word,” she added.

The victim and her friend were attacked after they boarded a private bus following a trip to the cinema to see the film Life of Pi. They had believed the bus would take them towards their homes but in reality it was being driven around Delhi by the suspects, allegedly on the lookout to pick up and rob passengers. The men are alleged to have repeatedly beaten and sexually assaulted her and struck Mr Pandey about the head with iron bars before throwing the pair from the bus, thinking them dead. They lay naked at the roadside for up to 20 minutes before passers-by came to help.

The attack triggered protests in Delhi and elsewhere. Following the outcry, the government has rushed through new laws and tougher punishments designed to protect women.

Six people were arrested in connection with the attack – five adults and a 17-year-old, who is being dealt with by a juvenile court. In March, one of the five adults charged with the attack and accused of being a ringleader, Ram Singh, was found hanged in his cell at Delhi’s Tihar jail. Another of the accused was allegedly beaten and poisoned by prison inmates last week.

Vinya Sharma’s lawyer accused inmates of “beating him on the chest” and poisoning his food, and said he was admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital on Tuesday after being treated at another city hospital since Sunday.

As she completed her evidence before Saket District Court in Delhi, the mother broke down in the witness box and said: “Please bring justice for my daughter.” The trial continues.

Long-Suffering Rohingya in Bangladesh Face Unacceptable Abuse

Forced displacement, intimidation, and abuse in Kutupalong makeshift camp

June 18, 2009

KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh - June 18 - Thousands of unregistered Rohingya refugees living in the Kutupalong makeshift camp, Bangladesh, are being forcibly displaced from their homes, in an act of intimidation and abuse by the local authorities. The international medical organization Doctors Without Border/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has treated numerous people for injuries, of which the majority were women and children. Furthermore, MSF has witnessed countless destroyed homes and heard many reports of people being warned to remove their own shelters or face the consequences.

"I was working. When I went back to my shelter I found it totally destroyed," said a camp resident. "An inspector was there with nine or 10 people. I asked why they destroyed my house. They showed me a fish cutter and said, ‘If you say anything, I'll cut you.' "

The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority originating from Myanmar, are denied citizenship and suffer persecution and discrimination in Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands have fled to Bangladesh and Thailand.

To date, an estimated 25,000 people have flocked to the Kutupalong makeshift camp hoping for recognition and assistance. Instead of finding help, they have been told that they cannot live next to the official camp, supported by the Bangladesh Government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Nor can they legally live on adjacent Forestry Department land. They have nowhere to go and no way to meet their basic needs.

"I cannot move," said another camp resident. "If we go to collect wood we will be arrested. If we collect water we will be beaten. If we move our house, where should we go?"

In March, 2009, MSF was alerted to fast-rising numbers in the makeshift camp and conducted an assessment. There were 20,000 people living in dire humanitarian conditions with global acute malnutrition rates above the emergency threshold, 90 percent food insecurity, poor water and sanitation, and no assistance.

"To forcibly displace this group when they are already so vulnerable is outrageous," said Gemma Davies, MSF project coordinator for the Kutupalong makeshift camp.

MSF responded immediately by treating the severely malnourished children, offering basic health care and improving water sources and waste facilities.

"Within four weeks of opening, we had almost 1,000 children in our feeding program," said Davies. "The rainy season has begun and the appalling water and sanitation situation is further deteriorating, increasing the risk of communicable diseases. These people have little to no access to even the most basic of services and they are being forced to flee in fear, with nowhere to turn. The situation is deplorable."

Denied citizenship in Myanmar, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled their homes to seek refuge abroad. Few have been granted refugee status. The majority struggle to survive, unrecognized and unassisted in countries such as Bangladesh and Thailand.

A fundamental solution for the Rohingya, not only in countries where they seek asylum but at their origin, is crucial to restoring the health and dignity of these long suffering people.

MSF has assisted people in Bangladesh since 1992, most recently setting up a basic healthcare program in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, assisting victims of Cyclone Aila and implementing an emergency intervention to assist unregistered Rohingya in Kutupalong makeshift camp, with services also open to the host community.

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Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971. MSF's work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation.
MSF operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas.