New Delhi: Delhi Police "forced" the family of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim to cremate her body before sunrise after she was flown here from Singapore early Sunday, a local BJP leader alleged.
"The family members refused to cremate the body before sunrise. But they were forced by the police to do the cremation. The family was forced to do the last rites before sunrise," Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Vijender Gupta, who participated in the last rites, told a news agency.
The body was taken to south Delhi, the residence of the victim, and the rites were performed before the cremation took place at a crematorium amid heavy deployment of police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel.
"With heavy police presence, the body was cremated around 7.30 am today (Sunday) morning, as the (girl`s) family members refused to cremate the body at 6.30 am (when it is still dark). The cremation was delayed and it was finally performed at 7.30 am," Gupta added.
A special Air India aircraft carrying the body of the victim touched down at the Delhi airport at 3.30 am. The parents of the woman accompanied the body.
The woman was tortured and gang-raped by six men Dec 16. She was in the Safdarjung Hospital here for 10 days before being flown to Singapore for treatment when her condition deteriorated. She died early Saturday.
IANS
