What has happened should not happen again: Delhi Braveheart’s friend

The male friend of the Delhi gang-rape victim talking said that one has to look for solutions and not give too much importance to procedures.

Zeenews Bureau Delhi: The male friend of the Delhi gang-rape victim, talking exclusively to Zee News said on Sunday that one has to look for solutions and not give too much importance to procedures while dealing with such cases. The only witness of the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year old girl in a moving bus in the national capital also lamented at the fact that the common man is apprehensive of the police and doesn’t want to approach it. The rape victim’s male friend came in front of the world for the first time on Friday when he spoke exclusively to Zee News editor Sudhir Chaudhary and broke his silence on the gruesome incident which occurred on December 16. Speaking on Zee News today once again, he reiterated the fact that we as a nation should become more sensitive and reach out to each other in times of distress. “When we were thrown out of the bus, everyone just kept looking at us but did not help. No ambulance came. We were sitting on the floor and no one came to our help,” he said. At the same time he questioned, “Why are people scared that if they help someone, then the police will harass them.” “Somewhere we do not want to help each other. Maybe we do not have the courage. Or maybe our conscience is dead,” he said.

He also lamented at the fact that investigations in these cases takes a long time to complete. “I was never quite. I was with the police from the time the incident happened,” he added. At the same time he said, “At the end, at times I feel that after everyone has happened – protests etc – people going to Jantar Mantar – this will all finish after some time.” Once more narrating the nightmare that he and Delhi’s Braveheart went through he said, “When I came out of the mall we did get an auto. The auto people just want to go where they want to go and charge whatever they want to charge. If we had taken the auto then this probably would not have happened.” He further said, “If the police had taken us to the right hospital, then things probably would have been different. I used to hear that these things happen but could not imagine that it would happen to me. No I can feel the pain of other victims.” “The accused took us all over Delhi but no one got to know. The accused wanted to crush us under the wheels so that we would not be able to tell anyone anything,” he revealed, adding, “The three PCR vans came to help us. They called for the ambulance but it did not come for a long time.” “Somewhere I feel she did not get better treatment. If she had been given better treatment in a good hospital then she could have been with us now,” he said sadly. The gang-rape victim’s friend was of the view that laws should be enacted in such a way that the common people are willing to go to the police. “Common men do not even go to the police station to register an FIR. The police have to think for the common man and work for them, he said. Recalling the moment when he had gone to meet the para-medical student in hospital, the victim’s male friend said, “I had gone to the hospital after 2-3 days to meet her. I told her that some of the accused had been apprehended and that that something will be done to give us justice.” He at the same time requested that things should move in the right direction. “What are we protesting for? What has happened should not happen again. We have to look at the solutions and not procedures. For example the rule should be that people like us should be taken to the nearest hospital and not to government hospital.” “Every law has only one aim – to punish the guilty and to give justice to the victims. But till now I have got the justice. On a sad note he added, “Never thought of leaving my friend and running away. I always wanted to protect her.”