13 days that stopped a nation
New Delhi : From Dec 16, when the 23-year-old was raped in a moving bus in Delhi, to Dec 29, when she died of her grievous injuries in a Singapore hospital, a sequence of 13 days that stopped a nation in its tracks:
Dec 16: The physiotherapy intern and her friend on the way back from a movie get into a bus at Munirka in south Delhi. She is gang-raped and tortured in the moving bus and her friend beaten. The couple is stripped, robbed and thrown out of the bus. Spotted by a toll plaza patrol vehicle and admitted to Safdarjung Hospital.
Dec 17: Police arrest bus driver Ram Singh and two accused.
Dec 18: The fourth accused held. Large numbers of people gather at India Gate to demand justice for the woman, battling for life.
Dec 19: Doctors remove the victim’s intestines, susceptible to gangrene. Protests continue.
Dec 20: The friend identifies one of the accused as the rapist in Tihar Jail.
Dec 21: Police apprehends a juvenile, identified as the fifth accused.
As the young woman’s condition worsens, hundreds, mostly women, take out a candle-light march outside 10 Janpath, the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Many women students and activists also try to enter Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Police arrest sixth accused from Aurangabad in Bihar.
Dec 22: Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde announces a commission to probe the gang-rape. Protests spread as police shuts down Raisina Hill, the seat of power. Police use batons, water cannons and tear gas at crowds, which stay at India Gate till late at night, some through the night. Some Metro stations shut down.
Government sets up inquiry to suggest ways to enhance women’s safety in Delhi.
Dec 23: The heart of the Indian capital turns into a battle zone as thousands denounce the gang-rape. Clashes between police and protesters leave many injured. Constable Subhash Chand Tomar among the injured. Some Metro stations remain shut.
The victim on ventilator, her condition remains critical.
Dec 24: Two Delhi Police officers suspended for not stopping the bus with tinted windows in which the girl was raped. Roads again blocked as protests continue. Authorities promise more measures for security of women. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the nation, calls for calm.
Dec 25: Delhi policeman Tomar succumbs to his injuries.
Dec 26: Gang-rape victim flown to Singapore. Government asks a Delhi High Court judge to probe the gang-rape and police lapses and suggest ways to make the national capital safer for women.
Dec 27: Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore says patient in “an extremely critical condition”.
Dec 28: Congress President Sonia Gandhi joins Manmohan Singh in promising quick justice. The young woman’s condition worsens.
Dec 29: The woman dies in Singapore. Protests in Delhi as police barricade the city centre.