14 DAY TRIAL // A gang-rape victim from India, brought to Singapore for medical assistance, has died as a result of organ failure at 4:45 a.m. local time, reports say.
She was treated at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, where staff state she “passed away peacefully,” The Hindu reports.
“Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists in Mount Elizabeth Hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate over these two days. She had suffered from severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain.
“She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome,” the official statement by CEO Dr. Kevin Loh reads.
She underwent multiple surgeries, in India as well as Singapore. She was taken in at Mount Elizabeth on Thursday, December 27, but by Friday her condition had “taken a turn for the worse.”
The girl's family has asked for her to be buried in her hometown of New Delhi.
“The family is shattered by this development. At the same time, they realised that best possible medical attention was given,” Indian High Commissioner to Singapore T.C.A. Raghavan says.
The 23-year-old paramedical student was raped on a bus, in Delhi. The case rocked India and sparked heated, violent protests, according to the Daily Mail.
At the time, Huffington Post detailed that 6 men participated in the assault, repeatedly raping the victim over a period of a few hours.
She, as well as the male friend that accompanied her, were severely beaten and dumped on a side of the road.
“It appears to be that a rod was inserted into her and it was pulled out with so much force that the act brought out her intestines... That is probably the only thing that explains such severe damage to her intestines,” a doctor at Safdarjung Hospital in India assessed after the incident.
One of the assailants confessed to the crime soon after:
“I admit to my crime. Hang me,” 20-year-old Vijay Sharma reportedly admitted.