New Delhi, April 22 (ANI): Doctors treating the five year old rape victim at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said on Monday that she was recovering well, and estimated that it would take at least two weeks for her to show signs of good progress.
\nThe medical bulletin came even as protests against the incident intensified in the national capital.
\nPolice said that the child was abducted on April 15, kept in captivity and raped by a neighbour near her north Delhi home.
\nDoctors said the girl suffered severe injuries and bruising, including to her neck and genitalia, but her condition was slowly improving
\nAll India Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital Medical Suiperintendent Dr. D K Sharma said: \u201cShe has been started on liquid and a semi solid diet. Her perennial wound has been redressed yesterday, and the wound is showing signs of healing. Although it may take few days more to heal it completely. She is being monitored by a team of specialist doctors regularly.\u201d
\nThe suspect allegedly held the girl hostage for over two days during which he raped and tortured her. She was found on April 18.
\nProtesters lay siege at the police headquarters denouncing them and the government for their inaction and apathy post rape.
\nMuch of the protesters’ anger was directed at police, after allegations officers tried to bribe the family of the victim to not file a case, and video footage showed an officer slapping a woman demonstrator on Friday.
\nCongress leader Girija Vyas said: \u201cThe day the incident of December 16 occurred, from then till now, if you go through the newspapers and evaluate them, you will see that a minimum of five to 20 incidents in any state are reported. This is an indication that neither the governments have woken up, nor the administration, or the common man are affected by it and the police is least bothered. What else can be said when the police is ready to bribe the complainant in order to suppress the matter and are slapping the protesting women.\u201d
\nBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Prakash Javadekar rebuked the government and added that they would raise the issue in the parliament.
\n\u201cProtests have increased across the country over rape in Delhi and other states. Delhi is our national capital but it has turned into rape capital. We will definitely raise this issue and there are protesters on the street who are asking why the new laws are not being implemented. Those who did not register the complaint, why are those policemen not being arrested?\u201d said Javadekar. The December gang rape provoked rare national debate about violence against women, putting the issue onto the political agenda in the nation of 1.2 billion people a year before elections.
\nPrime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office said in a statement that he was deeply disturbed by the latest incident. In December, his administration had faced criticism for failing to respond to public anger over the horrific attack on the physiotherapy student. The unprecedented protests by thousands of people across India eventually forced Singh’s government to pass tougher laws to fight gender crimes in March.
\nIssues such as rape, dowry-related deaths and female infanticide rarely enter mainstream political discourse in India.
\nNew Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among India’s major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures. However, most sex crimes in India go unreported, many offenders go unpunished, and justice is slow, according to social activists, who say successive governments have done little to ensure the safety of women and children.<\/p>\n\n