‘Punish them. They’ve ruined my life’ 22-YEAR-OLD PHOTOJOURNALIST’S GANGRAPE TRIGGERS OUTRAGE ACROSS COUNTRY

No Other Woman Should Suffer Such An Ordeal, Victim Tells Mom

Mumbai: "I want no other woman in this city and country to go through such brutal physical humiliation. The perpetrators should be punished severely as they have ruined my life. No punishment short of a life term will take away my pain and the humiliation and physical abuse I underwent." This was the victim's first reaction as she spoke to her mother from the hospital bed soon after Thursday's gruesome rape assault on her by a gang of five in an abandoned mill compound in Mumbai. 
    The victim said she wants life imprisonment for the perpetrators. "They have ruined my life and caused immense humiliation and physical pain," she is learned to have told her family. Barely 12 hours after the horrendous crime, the 22-year-old displayed "tremendous courage", said a source close to the family. She was alert and was closely monitoring each development as it unfolded on the 
television in her hospital room. 
    The source told TOI that she has started coming to terms with the gruesome incident. "She is mentally tough and determined to finish her project as it goes on display in the near future," said the source suggesting that she would go on to finish the assignment she was working on for the national magazine. She has been working with the company as an intern for three and a half months. 
    According to the source, after spending a very restless night, the victim had her first cup of tea only on Friday evening. "She was on drips the whole night and on Friday morning," said the relative adding that the news programmes on the incident playing on TV only made her stronger. "She spent parts of the evening watching the news, which failed to ruffle her," the source said. 
AREA OF DARKNESS IN HEART OF CITY THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS 
    The 22-year-old photojournalist and her male colleague enter the deserted Shakti Mills compound near Mahalaxmi railway station at about 6pm on Thursday to take pictures for a feature they are doing for a magazine 
    Inside the compound, they are accosted by two accused, who call in three of their friends and tie up the boy with three belts 
    They then take turns to rape the girl at a spot 15 feet away from where the boy has been tied up. After the crime, they walk the victim and her male colleague to the Mahalaxmi station at 7.30pm. Outside the station, they click a picture of the girl and threaten her saying that if she complains, they will make her photos public 
    The girl and her colleague go to Jaslok Hospital; the NM Joshi Marg police file an FIR at midnight 
THE ACCUSED ARRESTED: Chand Hussain Abdul Sattar Shaikh (18, seen at left) is a resident of slums at Dhobi Ghat at Saat Rasta WANTED: Qasam Shaikh (20), a resident of Madanpura, Agripada, and Vijay Jadhav, Ashfaak and Salim IPC SECTIONS AGAINST ACCUSE 1 376 (2) (g) GangrapePunishment: 20 years or a life term 2³⁴¹ Wrongful restraint One month in jail and a fine 3³⁴³ Wrongf confineme 2 years in j and a fine 4 506 (II) Criminal intimidation 3 years in jail 5 34 Common intention (to be read with the other sections) 
CONDITION OF THE VICTIMS 
The girl Doctors at Jaslok Hospital said the victim's condition is stable. Though investigations to gauge the seriousness of her injuries were on, TOI has learned that she may not need any major surgeries. She has also undergone a round of counselling and may be discharged in a day or two 
The boy He has abrasions on his limbs, face and abdomen, but they are not serious

Shakti Mills