India Gang Rape Victim Identified

Posted on Jan 7, 2013

AP/Tsering Topgyal

A makeshift memorial for Jyoti Singh Pandey.

We now know the name of the woman who died after being brutally gang raped and beaten on a bus in New Delhi last month: Jyoti Singh Pandey. The 23-year-old medical school student had been known to the world as India’s Daughter, but her father, Badri, doesn’t want his daughter to be an anonymous victim anymore. 

“We want the world to know her real name,” the devastated dad told The Sunday People newspaper. “My daughter didn’t do anything wrong; she died while protecting herself.”

He added: “I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other women who have survived these attacks. They will find strength from my daughter.”

Jyoti clung to life for nearly two weeks before she died in a Singapore hospital. Five men have been charged with rape and murder in Jyoti’s death. If found guilty, the men could face the death penalty. A 17-year-old will be charged separately due to his age.

“Death for all six of them. These men are beasts. They should be made an example of and that society will not allow such things to happen,” Badri said.

The Sunday People:

At the time Badri still didn’t know what had happened. A policeman finally explained. Jyoti and her friend Awindra Pandey, 28, had boarded a bus to get home but had been taken on a two-and-a-half hour ride to hell by the driver, his assistant and four passengers.

Both were battered with iron bars and Jyoti was repeatedly raped before they were stripped and dumped on a road leading to Delhi airport – yards from where Badri was working.

He said: “I immediately called my wife and sons and told them to come to the hospital. But I couldn’t tell them about the rape.”

For the first ten days Jyoti was in and out of consciousness and it was hopeful she would survive. Badri said: “Doctors did their best to save her. She spoke a few times but mostly through gestures. She had a feeding pipe in her mouth making it difficult for her to speak.

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—Posted by Tracy Bloom.

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