"Damini" the brave soul awakens the nation
Damini succumbs to injuries at multi-organ transplant Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore the body to be flown back tonight.Back home "Damini" the brave soul awakens the nation. |
The
girl, who was admitted to the well-known multi-organ transplant
facility Mount Elizabeth Hospital here on Thursday morning in an
extremely critical condition, breathed her last at 4:45 AM (2:15 AM
India time).
She was earlier treated at the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.
Meanwhile,
an Air India aircraft has been chartered by the government and sent to
Singapore to bring back the body of the gangrape victim and her family
members to New Delhi.
The
chartered plane, an Airbus A-319, left the IGI Airport at 0800 hours
for Singapore and expected to return around 2000 hours tonight after
taking off from there around 1700 hours local time, Air India officials
said.
"We
are very sad to report that the patient passed away peacefully at
4.45am on 29 Dec 2012 (Singapore time)," the hospital's Chief Executive
Officer Dr Kelvin Loh said in a statement.
"Her
family and officials from the High Commission of India were by her
side. The Mount Elizabeth Hospital team of doctors, nurses and staff
join her family in mourning her loss," the statement said.
The body has been moved to the mortuary in the Singapore General Hospital and will be flown back to India by a chartered plane.
Accompanied by her family, the body is expected to arrive in Delhi in the night.
President
Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a host of political
leaders condoled the death of the girl and paid rich tributes to the
victim of the sexual assault for her brave fight.
"Damini" was raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus by six men in Delhi on 16th December and thrown out along with her companion.
Indian
High Commissioner T C A Raghavan told reporters that the family was yet
to decide on the plans for the last rites back home.
He said the "Damini" fought a brave battle till the end. She was brought to Singapore for being provided good medical treatment.
The
envoy "The family is shattered by this development. At the same time,
they realised that best possible medical attention was given. And in the
end it was the scale of injuries that proved too much for the medical
attention provided to her".
He
said the final few hours was a trying time for the girl's family and
they bore the entire process with a great deal of fortitude and courage.
Raghavan
said he has passed on the condolence message of the Prime Minister to
the family in which he had spoken of the desire to make India a
demonstrably better and safe place for women to live in.
Raghavan
said the High Commission has received numerous messages from various
quarters including the Singapore government deeply mourning the death.
He
appreciated the help extended by the Singapore Foreign Ministry, the
government and the Mount Elizabeth Hospital for all their support in the
last two days.
Replying
to questions on the shifting of the girl from Delhi to Singapore, he
said consultations were held between doctors of Safdarjung hospital and
Mount Elizabeth Hospital and they must have given full thought to it
before taking it.
Asked
whether doctors felt that she could have died to her shift from Delhi
to Singapore, Raghavan said "no such sentiments was expressed to me.
Both
the doctors (P K Verma of Safdarjung and Yatin Mehta of Medanta
Medicity) said she was very badly injured in the assault of December 16
night".
He
said the best possible treatment was given to the girl in Delhi and in
Singapore and the cause of her death was "the injuries she sustained".
"All
possible medical efforts were made to treat the injuries. The efforts
were not successful in helping her to overcome the injuries," he said.
Declining to go into the details of the family, he said they had
requested that the privacy of their identity be protected.
Meanwhile,
the hospital added: "We are humbled by the privilege of being tasked to
care for her in her final struggle. We acknowledge the faith the Indian
Government and the patient's family have placed with us to ensure the
best care possible was indeed provided to her at Mount Elizabeth
Hospital".
"We
share their huge sadness at her passing and will work with the High
Commission of India to provide the family support in this time of
grief," said Dr Loh.
Late
last night, the hospital said the condition of the rape victim had
taken a "turn for the worse". "As of 9 pm (6:30 PM IST), the patient's
condition has taken a turn for the worse. Her vital signs are
deteriorating with signs of severe organ failure," Loh had said in a
statement.
"This
is despite doctors fighting for her life including putting her on
maximum artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well
as stimulants which maximise her body's capability to fight
infections," the CEO had said.
During
her treatment in Safdarjung Hospital, the girl's condition had recorded
several ups and downs. Three days after the attack, her gangrenous
intestine was removed.
The
beastial attack on the girl and her male friend in the bus had sparked
off protests by students and women activists which took a violent turn
in the capital last Saturday and Sunday.
Death
for rapists was one of the demands of the protesters and the victim's
demise could trigger fresh display of emotions on the streets.
A series of peaceful
marches and protests were on Saturday held in the capital, including one
at Jantar Mantar, to mourn the death of the 23-year-old gangrape victim
even as India Gate and Raisina Hill were kept out of bounds for people.
Policemen were deployed in strength in and around India Gate and Raisina Hill as well as other parts of the capital to ensure that the protests remain peaceful besides shutting down of Delhi Metro stations near the war memorial.
Delhi
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit requested Home Minister SushilKumar
Shinde to lift restrictions on holding peaceful demonstration in memory
of the victim in and around India Gate.
In
one of the protests, JNU students marched from their campus to Munirka
bus stop from where the girl boarded the bus in which she was gangraped
and brutally assaulted on December 16 allegedly by six men.
The
students announced that they will hold a night vigil at the same spot
on New Year Eve demanding strong laws to punish sexual offenders.
Activists
of Left parties staged a peace march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar
led by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat. She said there was a
need for fixing accountability.
"Unless
we do this, such incidents will repeat," she said. Asked about sexist
comments by politicians, she said it shows the mindset of people and
that "action should be taken against them in Parliament".
At Jantar Mantar, a number of people sat on a silent protest.
However,
later there were sloganeering and demands for immediate punishment of
the culprits. The mourners also protested against the security lock down
of India Gate and Raisina Hill where violent demonstrations were
witnessed last weekend over the rape.
People
started gathering at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi at around 10 AM and sat
in silence.CM Delhi was not allowed to speak to the protesters.
Aam
Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kumar Vishwas
joined the protest along with some of their supporters with their
mouth tied with black cloth.Kejriwal
tweeted, "her death is a matter of shame and sorrow for all of us.
Let's resolve that we will not let her death go in vain.”
In
tweets, activist Kiran Bedi said, "today is a day of reflection and
personal audit on the way we as parents and teachers are grooming boys
in this country.
"Today
is day of mourning on lives we have lost because of failure of our
criminal justice system and resolve to not fail it in future. Today is a
day to also reflect the way we project our women in media," she said.
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