Indian victim of gang rape and murder had planned to get married
Indian woman who died after a brutal attack in Delhi is cremated away from the public glare
The victim of a gang rape and murder that triggered an outpouring of grief and anger across India was cremated at a private ceremony yesterday as it emerged she was planning to get married in February.
The unidentified 23-year-old, the focus of nationwide protests since she was attacked on a bus in New Delhi two weeks ago, was cremated away from the public glare only hours after her body was brought back from Singapore, where doctors had tried to save her life.
A funeral pyre was lit after traumatised relatives and friends said their final prayers at a ceremony in southwestern Delhi, according to mourners who revealed she had been due to wed her boyfriend who was injured in the same attack.
"They had made all the wedding preparations and had planned a wedding party in Delhi" for February, said Meena Rai, a close friend and neighbour.
Rai said she had been shopping for wedding outfits and the contents of a wedding box.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, leader of the main ruling Congress party, were at Delhi airport to console her parents as they arrived home on a chartered plane with their daughter's body at about 4am.