We will pursue case till the end: Rape victim's father

All those behind the Dec 16 gang-rape here should be hanged, said the father of the 23-year-old victim, stressing that he would pursue the case till the end.

As the trial against the five accused in the gang-rape of the young woman, who died of her grievous injuries on Dec 29, began in a Delhi court, her father addressed a press conference Tuesday to assert that he would approach the courts to ensure justice was done.

"I want all six of them to be hanged. We will go to the court and pursue the case till the end," he said, with his son by his side. The sixth accused is a juvenile, whose hearings are being conducted by the Juvenile Justice Board here.

He said his daughter should not be addressed as a gang-rape victim. "It hurts me. She should be called the country's brave daughter," father said.

He also said he did not have "much knowledge" about the ordinance, promulgated last week that awards stricter punishment for sexual crimes against women, including death sentence in rare cases.

"We have received Rs.15 lakh from the Delhi government," he said. "But the money cannot make up for our loss."

The woman's brother, a Class 12 pass, said the family hoped to get financial help from his sister, who was a physiotherapist trainee at a medical college.

"Last year, I got a chance to get admission to an engineering college. But my family was not in a condition to bear the fees. My father asked me to wait for another year, till my sister's physiotherapy course ended," brother said.

He said the law should be amended so that the juvenile attacker could also be hanged.

The woman was raped on the night of Dec 16 last year when she got on to a bus with her friend.

Six men, including a juvenile, have been accused of committing the horrific crime. She died in a Singapore hospital, where she was taken for treatment of her internal injuries. – IAN S