Saturday, January 05, 2013

"Nobody helped us for an hour" - Indian rape witness

By Frank Jack Daniel and Satarupa Bhattacharjya

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Police and passers-by left a gang-raped Indian student lying unclothed and bleeding in the street for almost an hour, a male friend who was attacked with her said on Friday in his first public comments on the case that provoked a global outcry.

The 23-year-old student died in hospital two weeks after she was attacked on December 16 in a private bus in New Delhi, a city dubbed India's 'rape capital'.

"We kept shouting at the police, 'please give us some clothes' but they were busy deciding which police station our case should be registered at," the friend told the Zee News network.

The man said he and the woman were attacked after they boarded the bus following an evening out watching a film.

They were thrown off the vehicle and left bleeding in the street for 45 minutes before a police van arrived, he said. Officers then spent a long time arguing about where to take them, he added.

"There were a few people who had gathered round but nobody helped. Before the police came I screamed for help but the auto rickshaws, cars and others passing by did not stop," he said in a studio interview, a blue metal crutch leaning on his chair.

"It took an hour and a half for us to be taken to hospital," he added.

The attack prompted street protests across India and promises from the government of tougher punishments for offenders.

Neither the woman nor her friend have been named. Five men were charged with her gang rape and murder on Thursday.

(Reporting By Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Andrew Heavens)