Catalyst for change?
It was the crime that shocked the world. Hundreds of thousands of outraged men and women took to the streets demanding justice and the death penalty for rapists after the brutal attack against ‘Braveheart’ on a bus in Delhi.
We all read with horror the headlines and details of how a gang of men raped Jyoti Singh after luring her on to the bus with her friend following a night out at the cinema. The six men – aged from 17 to 34 – took it in turns to viciously beat and sexually assault the petite physiotherapy student, then threw her and her battered friend off the moving bus.
Naked and bleeding, it was 45 minutes before anyone stopped to help them, and Jyoti died of her terrible injuries 13 days later. It was a tragedy, one of the most appallingly violent attacks I’ve ever read about, and a crime that exposed the inefficiency of the legal system and inequality in the treatment of women across India.
Jyoti – ‘Delhi’s Daughter’ – became the catalyst for change and her death a symbol of hope. But behind the cover stories, the analysis, and public outcry and sorrow, was a family grieving for their girl. In an exclusive and moving interview on page 14, Jyoti’s mother Asha Devi tells us why she still misses her beautiful daughter every day and why she is glad her killers were given the death sentence.
Let me know what you think, until next week,