Hours after a special court framed charges against the five accused in the Delhi gang rape case on Saturday, Cong-ress president Sonia Gandhi and newly-elected party vice-president Rahul Gandhi drove to the 23-year-old victim’s house in a lower-middle class residential colony in West Delhi.
In an emotionally charged atmosphere, Mrs Gandhi hugged the girl’s mother, who has not yet recovered from the loss of her favourite child. The mother narrated their life story and the struggle the family went through to educate their children, including their daughter. A visibly mo-ved Mrs Gandhi and Rahul listened intently to the story of their fight for survival and search for a better life. The family had pinned all their hopes on the paramedic student, who was brutally gangraped by a gang of six on the night of December 16. The parents, particularly the mother, broke down when they talked of the girl’s strong desire to live and then succumbing to her injuries in Singa-pore.
The parents told Mrs Gandhi and Mr Gandhi that the accused must get the death penalty. For the parents, the juvenile, who was the most brutal of all, should also “get the same punishment”, sources said. The mother urged Mrs Gandhi to see to it that “no other girl in the country suffers like our daughter”, sources said.
Mr Rahul Gandhi assured the family that “they will get justice”. Moved by their living conditions, the leaders promised them an MIG flat at Dwarka in West Delhi. “She has promised to give us an MIG flat in Dwarka,” the brother said. Mr Gandhi, who interacted with the brothers, reportedly gave his “personal mobile number” to one of them.
Mrs Gandhi also went through the girl’s books, kept in the room. The victim’s youngest brother had cleared his Class 10 board exams while the older one was preparing for the engineering ent-rance exams. The brothers shared memories of their “Didi” with Mr Gandhi and the family had tea with the leaders.