A young photographer gang-
raped in Mumbai last week in an attack that
sparked outrage has been discharged from
hospital after “improving steadily”, staff said
Wednesday. The 22-year-old woman was assaulted while on
assignment for a magazine in central Mumbai
with a male colleague, who was tied up and
beaten, police say. The woman was admitted to the city’s Jaslok
Hospital with internal and external injuries
after the attack last Thursday evening. “The patient had improved steadily and our
team of doctors especially assigned… had
declared the patient medically fit for discharge
yesterday evening,” the acting head of the
hospital said in a statement. Also on Wednesday, police took the five
arrested suspects in the case to the crime
scene at an abandoned mill compound to
reconstruct events. Footage showed the accused, dressed in T-
shirts and jeans and wearing hoods, being
escorted by police to the scene. “They demonstrated the sequence in which the
crime was committed. We are seeking to build
a strong and waterproof case against them,”
Joint Commissioner of Police Himanshu Roy
told television reporters. Police have said the accused are aged between
18 and 27, but local media reported Wednesday
there were city records to back up claims that
one suspect is a juvenile. “We will do a bone ossification test to
determine whether he is a minor. If a minor,
proceedings will be taken against him in a
juvenile court,” said Roy. Formal charges have yet to be filed. Police arrested the suspects within three days
of the incident that shocked Mumbai, which
has long been regarded as one of the safer
cities for Indian women. The attack had stark parallels with the fatal
gang-rape in December of a 23-year-old
student on a bus in New Delhi, which ignited
nationwide protests over the country’s
treatment of women and led to a toughening of
the law against rape. The family of the photographer in Mumbai
released a statement at the weekend saying
they were “optimistic” their daughter’s case
would be fast-tracked and the “severest of
punishments” would be imposed on those
responsible. They also pleaded with the media for privacy as
they try to recover from this “nightmarish
phase”. The woman was earlier quoted by The Times of
India as saying “rape is not the end of life” and
that she wanted to return to work. Since the attack, Mumbai police commissioner
Satyapal Singh has sparked anger by
suggesting that city residents need to choose
between a “promiscuous culture” that allows
public kissing, or a city made safe by “moral
policing”. “On the one hand you want to have a
promiscuous culture and on the other hand you
want a safe and secure environment for the
people,” he said Tuesday. Police in and around Mumbai have come under
fire this year for targeting unmarried couples
or single women out late instead of sex
offenders. Best-selling Indian novelist Chetan Bhagat was
also slammed on social media sites Wednesday
after tweeting that the country’s plunging
currency had been “raped”. “Chetan Bhagat, rape jokes are just not funny,”
said an article on the news website Firstpost,
adding that they are “tasteless and just plain
crass”.
raped in Mumbai last week in an attack that
sparked outrage has been discharged from
hospital after “improving steadily”, staff said
Wednesday. The 22-year-old woman was assaulted while on
assignment for a magazine in central Mumbai
with a male colleague, who was tied up and
beaten, police say. The woman was admitted to the city’s Jaslok
Hospital with internal and external injuries
after the attack last Thursday evening. “The patient had improved steadily and our
team of doctors especially assigned… had
declared the patient medically fit for discharge
yesterday evening,” the acting head of the
hospital said in a statement. Also on Wednesday, police took the five
arrested suspects in the case to the crime
scene at an abandoned mill compound to
reconstruct events. Footage showed the accused, dressed in T-
shirts and jeans and wearing hoods, being
escorted by police to the scene. “They demonstrated the sequence in which the
crime was committed. We are seeking to build
a strong and waterproof case against them,”
Joint Commissioner of Police Himanshu Roy
told television reporters. Police have said the accused are aged between
18 and 27, but local media reported Wednesday
there were city records to back up claims that
one suspect is a juvenile. “We will do a bone ossification test to
determine whether he is a minor. If a minor,
proceedings will be taken against him in a
juvenile court,” said Roy. Formal charges have yet to be filed. Police arrested the suspects within three days
of the incident that shocked Mumbai, which
has long been regarded as one of the safer
cities for Indian women. The attack had stark parallels with the fatal
gang-rape in December of a 23-year-old
student on a bus in New Delhi, which ignited
nationwide protests over the country’s
treatment of women and led to a toughening of
the law against rape. The family of the photographer in Mumbai
released a statement at the weekend saying
they were “optimistic” their daughter’s case
would be fast-tracked and the “severest of
punishments” would be imposed on those
responsible. They also pleaded with the media for privacy as
they try to recover from this “nightmarish
phase”. The woman was earlier quoted by The Times of
India as saying “rape is not the end of life” and
that she wanted to return to work. Since the attack, Mumbai police commissioner
Satyapal Singh has sparked anger by
suggesting that city residents need to choose
between a “promiscuous culture” that allows
public kissing, or a city made safe by “moral
policing”. “On the one hand you want to have a
promiscuous culture and on the other hand you
want a safe and secure environment for the
people,” he said Tuesday. Police in and around Mumbai have come under
fire this year for targeting unmarried couples
or single women out late instead of sex
offenders. Best-selling Indian novelist Chetan Bhagat was
also slammed on social media sites Wednesday
after tweeting that the country’s plunging
currency had been “raped”. “Chetan Bhagat, rape jokes are just not funny,”
said an article on the news website Firstpost,
adding that they are “tasteless and just plain
crass”.
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