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Gang-rape victim cremated in
Delhi
NEW DELHI: Amid outpouring of anger and grief in the country, the body of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim was flown to New Delhi from Singapore early on Sunday morning and cremated within hours.
The mortal remains of the gangrape victim, who lost her brave battle for life in a Singapore hospital on Saturday, were consigned to flames here early on Sunday, away from public glare, shortly after her body was received by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the small hours.
The funeral pyre was lit by her sobbing father at a crematorium in Dwarka sub city after traumatised relatives and friends said their final prayers at a ritual at the house where the girl lived in south-west Delhi.
Singh and Gandhi waited at the Palam technical area of IGI airport, where a special aircraft of Air India carrying the body of the girl as also her parents and two brothers taxied down the tarmac in heavy fog in a sombre atmosphere, reflecting the national mood against the bestial attack on her two Sundays ago that ultimately claimed her life.
After the plane landed at IGI airport at around 3.30 a.m., Singh and Gandhi met the disconsolate parents and brothers of the paramedical student and commiserated in their grief.
Amidst heavy deployment of the Delhi Police, BSF and Rapid Action Force personnel in riot gear, the body was then taken to the house, where the girl lived, and rituals were performed before being taken to the crematorium at Dwarka's Sector 24.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, Minister of State for Home Affairs R.P.N. Singh, West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra, Delhi BJP chief Vijender Gupta were also present at the cremation from which the media was kept out.
It was only late last night that police had approached the officials of a crematorium for an early morning cremation of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim.
The cremation plans were kept closely-guarded till the last moment as police apprehended a large gathering may cause law and order problems.
Authorities also wanted the last rites to be performed at 6.30 a.m. but their plan did not materialize as Hindu traditions did not allow cremation before sunrise.
At 7.30 a.m., the father of the victim lit the funeral pyre in the presence of her brothers, relatives and others.
Media was not allowed in the crematorium.
The girl, a physiotherapy student, was gang-raped and brutally assaulted allegedly by six men in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16th night. She died yesterday morning.
While undergoing treatment at Safdarjung hospital, she was shifted to the Singapore hospital for further treatment.
The aircraft AIC-380A took off from Singapore at around 12:30 a.m. local time (10:00 p.m. IST Saturday), Indian High Commission officials said.
On the chartered plane, sent by the Indian government, were her family members who have been in Singapore since the girl was brought to the hospital here in an extremely critical condition.
The victim, who underwent three surgeries, had damaged internal organs in the assault. She also suffered a cardiac arrest and brain injury.
the police has slapped murder charges, which has death penalty in rarest of rare cases, against the six accused and will file the chargesheet against them on January three.
Investigators said they will seek the harshest punishment for the culprits.
— PTI
Protesters turn violent at Jantar Mantar
NEW DELHI: The peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar demanding speedy punishment for the rapists of the 23-year-old girl was marred by violence on Sunday when a group allegedly belonging to BJP’s student wing ABVP clashed with police on being denied permission to take out a march.
Five persons, including some members of the ABVP, were detained following the incident but were released later and the situation quickly brought under control.
The incident occurred even as a group of protesters sat on a one-day hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in the heart of Capital while others shouted slogans holding placards in their hands.
A group of protesters also painted slogans and graphics on sheets of paper spread on the road.
The hitherto peaceful protest turned violent at around 1 p.m. when a group among the protesters carrying flags and banners of ABVP tried to take out a march from Jantar Mantar to Connaught Place but police prevented them from moving ahead, following which the clash erupted.
While one group went ahead with the peaceful protest, another group tried to break the iron barricades and police called in more reinforcement.
Protesters managed to break some of the barricades but police immediately contained them.
At Jantar Mantar, young and old, men and women gathered at the epicentre of protest from morning in an outpouring of grief and anger at the rape and death of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student.
A group of protesters sat on a one-day hunger strike at Jantar Mantar while others shouted slogans holding placards in their hands.
India Gate and Raisina Hill, where violent protests had taken place last week, remained out of bounds for public today as hundreds of policemen in riot gear guarded the area
and kept a hawk’s vigil.
“The entire central vista including Rajpath, Vijay Chowk and all roads leading to India Gate will be closed for general traffic. Kamal Attaturk Marg has also been closed. All travellers are advised to avoid these roads,”
the police said. — PTI
Five
Delhi Metro stations reopen
NEW DELHI: Five out of the ten metro stations in Central Delhi, that were closed down for an indefinite period in the wake of the death of the gang-rape victim, were opened this afternoon.
The stations which opened are Pragati Maidan, Mandi House, Barakhamba Road, Rajiv Chowk and Patel
Chowk.
However, Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan, Race Course, Jor Bagh and Khan Market stations will remain closed till further orders.
However, inter-change facility will be available at the Central Secretariat station, DMRC officials said.
The decision to close down the Metro stations was taken by the Delhi Police which is making all out efforts to prevent protesters from reaching India Gate.
They have already cordoned off the entire India Gate area.
Police had last week as well closed down Metro stations to prevent protesters from reaching the protest sites. — PTI
Taliban kill 21 kidnapped Pakistani soldiers
ISLAMABAD: Twenty-one Pakistani security personnel kidnapped by the Taliban from check posts near Peshawar were gunned down by the militants on Sunday, police officials said.
The bullet-riddled bodies of the policemen were found in Jabai area of Frontier Region Peshawar, located a short distance from the capital of
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, shortly after midnight.
They were reportedly shot dead at a cricket ground.
Two more kidnapped security personnel escaped and one of them was seriously injured.
One of these personnel alerted local authorities, who found the bodies.
The Taliban had kidnapped 23 personnel of the Levies militia after overrunning three check posts early on Thursday.
Over 200 militants armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades had attacked the posts.
Two security personnel were killed in the attack.
The attackers, who were wearing uniforms of security forces, had taken away weapons and vehicles from the check posts.
The political administration had asked tribal elders of Frontier Region Peshawar to help recover the 23 kidnapped personnel.
The Darra Adam Khel faction of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan had claimed responsibility for the attack on the check posts.
Police officials had said on Saturday that the elders had established contact with the militants and started negotiations for the release of the kidnapped personnel.
The Taliban have carried out a string of high profile attacks in Peshawar and its surrounding areas this month.
Leading anti-Taliban politician Bashir Ahmad Bilour and eight others were killed by a suicide bomber last week. — PTI
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