She was studious, ambitious and about to be married.
Her parents had sold off land and scrimped on food to pay for her and her brothers’ education. She came to India’s capital to pursue dreams of being a doctor, from a tiny farming village that regularly suffered drought and floods.
Details about the life of the 23-year-old New Delhi gang rape victim, who died on Saturday, began to trickle out over the weekend, as relatives and neighbors spoke publicly for the first time since the woman was raped by several men in a moving bus, assaulted with an iron rod and dumped on the side of a highway.
For nearly two weeks, as she battled for life, first at a hospital in New Delhi and then in Singapore, hundreds of Indians poured onto the streets in angry protests praying for her demanding justice. On Sunday, as the victim was cremated in a private ceremony in New Delhi, a picture emerged of her life, her family and her dreams. Her name has not been disclosed.
From a Hindu family of modest means, the victim, who was studying physiotherapy, was a “brilliant” and “hard working” student who had doggedly pursued a medical education. “She had made up her mind very early that she wanted to become a doctor,” The Hindu newspaper quoted Lalji Singh, who said he was the victim’s uncle.
The victim’s parents had moved to New Delhi from a small town called Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, among hundreds of Indians who migrate to large Indian cities in search of a better future for their children. Her father worked as a loader with a private airline at New Delhi’s international airport, according to The Hindustan Times.
He had invested heavily in his children’s education, even selling his ancestral property, “so that their aspirations could be fulfilled,” Mr. Singh was quoted as saying. Her father always encouraged her to shine in life, and, unlike many traditional families who save first for their daughter’s marriage, he spared no expense for her education, the Times of India said.
Her father’s sacrifices sparked in the victim a determination to succeed at an early age. As a teenager, she reportedly gave lessons to younger children to supplement the household income. A role model for those in her neighborhood, her parents hoped her two younger siblings would emulate her. She was determined to start earning so she could repay her father, Indian media reported.
On Sunday evening, reports suggested that the victim was preparing for her marriage in February. “They had made all the wedding preparations and had planned a wedding party in Delhi,” Agence France-Presse quoted Meena Rai, who said she had accompanied the victim on shopping trips.
She told her family she had battled her attackers, her brother told India Today. “While she was admitted in hospital, she told me that she fought back as hard as she could. She was defending herself by beating and biting them.”
The victim last spoke to her family on Wednesday, her brother said. “She asked me if I had taken my dinner. I answered yes. She then told me that I should sleep. She said, ‘aap so jao, main bhi ab soungi’ (you go to sleep, I will also sleep),” he said. “Then she embraced my hand and slept as a tear dropped from the corner of her eye. Those were her last words to me. Thereafter, she never gained consciousness and didn’t talk to any of us.”
