Male friend of gangrape victim slams police, public apathy

Breaking his silence, the male friend of the Delhi gangrape victim tonight severely criticised the Delhi Police for its tardy response and bemoaned public apathy after both of them had been badly injured and thrown out of the bus after she was gangraped by six men.

He said that they had been lured into boarding the private bus on December 16 night at Munirka in South Delhi.

"The bus occupants had everything planned. Apart from the driver and helper, others behaved like they were passengers. we even paid Rs.20 as fare. Then they started teasing my friend and same led to a brawl. I beat three of them up but then the rest of them brought an iron rod and hit me. Before I fell unconscious, they took my friend away," he told Zee News in an interview telecast tonight.

"From where we boarded the bus, they moved around for nearly two and a half hours. We were shouting, trying to make people hear us. But they switched the lights of the bus off.

We tried to resist them. Even my friend fought with them, she tried to save me. She tried to dial the police control room no.100, but the accused snatched her mobile away," the male friend said.

He said before throwing them from the bus, "they snatched our mobiles and tore off our clothes in order to destroy any evidence of the crime".

Recounting the sequence of events on that fateful night, he said, "after throwing us off the bus, they tried to mow us down but I saved my friend by pulling her away in the nick of time. We were without clothes. We tried to stop passers by.

Several auto rickshaws, cars and bikes slowed down but no one stopped for about 25 minutes. Then, someone on patrolling stopped and called the police," he said.

... contd.

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