The boyfriend of a young Indian student whose gang-rape and murder sparked nationwide fury has recounted the savagery inflicted on her and his own trauma over his failed efforts to fend off the rapists.
The 28-year-old man, who suffered a fractured leg and other injuries in the December 16 attack, also deplored the apathy of police and passers-by who did little to help the unclothed victim at the end of their nearly hour-long ordeal.
The horrifying crime has appalled India and brought simmering anger about widespread crime against women to the boil amid angry calls for safer streets, more sensitive policing and changed social attitudes.
On Saturday, a Delhi district court is expected to start the process of bringing the five adult suspects to trial, where they could face the death penalty if convicted. A sixth suspect is a minor believed to be aged 17.
“What can I say? The cruelty I saw should not be seen ever,” said the boyfriend, who is currently with his family in rural northern India where he is taking time out from his job at a software firm in New Delhi.
“I tried to fight against the men but later I begged them again and again to leave her,” the boyfriend said in an interview by phone on Friday from Gorakhpur, a town in the state of Uttar Pradesh.