A 40-year-old woman, who was working as a private helper at the GB Pant hospital in Delhi, and was allegedly raped and assaulted in the hospital last week, passed away on 7 May. Speaking to FIT on Wednesday, 10 May, the son of the victim said that "there's no one for the family to rely on now."
The victim had been working as a private helper at the hospital for 16 years. The incident took place on the intervening night of 1 and 2 May. She was admitted to the LNJP Hospital on 2 May.
The same day, the accused, Shakir, was arrested by the Delhi Police and sent to judicial custody. He was known to the victim.
'Bleeding From Her Private Parts'
The victim is survived by five children. Her husband passed away due to cancer last year.
Her eldest son, 20, who is awaiting his class 12th results, told FIT that she was the only earning member of the family and now he's not sure how to take care of his siblings.
"I spoke to my mother right before she went for the operation on 2 May. I met her every day in the hospital after that but she was unconscious."
He added that some official of the Delhi Municipal Corporation met him and promised ex-gratia, but he doesn't know when that will be given. "One accused has been arrested till now but I think more people were involved. Maybe he'll tell the police in remand who else was involved," he said.
A staff at LNJP Hospital also told the Times of India that when the victim was brought in, she was unconscious, "bleeding from her private parts and her blood pressure was low." She passed away after suffering multiple organ failure.
A First Information Report had been filed under Sections 376 (rape) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code. Murder charges were added to the FIR after the woman's death, Delhi Commissioner of Police (Central) Sanjay Kumar Sain's office told FIT.
In the FIR, accessed by FIT, the victim had alleged:
"Shakir entered GB Pant Hospital through gate number 8 and came to the third floor of B block. As soon as he entered, he asked me why my phone was switched off, started hitting me, and banged my head against the wall. He punched me on my private parts, raped me, and also took away my phone and bag."
The DCP's office also said that they've not received the postmortem report yet and the reason of her death can only be ascertained after the report is out.
On Thursday, after rumours about the incident surfaced on social media, the DCP had released a statement saying: "Neither the Medical examination of the victim nor the investigation conducted so far has surfaced anything like insertion of any object in the private part. Further, in her statement the victim has also not alleged any such act."
Case Triggers Political BJP-AAP Slugfest
The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal over their alleged silence and inaction over this incident.
"If Swati Maliwal is afraid to speak on the issue of women, she should immediately resign from her post, otherwise Delhi Mahila Morcha will protest in front of Chief Minister's residence and Swati Maliwal's house."Delhi BJP Vice-President Barkha Singh to PTI
However, the DCW, issued a statement saying that the BJP's claims were "defamatory and completely false" as it was a DCW counsellor who had "ensured registration of an FIR in the matter."
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri also targeted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleging that the party has "no respect and concern" for the Dalit victim.
(With inputs from PTI and Times of India)
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