New Delhi:
She was called Nirbhaya (fearless), Damini (lightning - after a character from a 1990s Bollywood movie who fights for justice) and Amanat (treasure) by the Indian media following her brave fight against death after a brutal gang rape. <a href=" http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/anti-rape-riots-india/story/family-pinned-hopes-daughter-better-life-20121230" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read this story on The Straits Times </a>
For her family, she also stood for "hope" as they were depending on the 23-year-old physiotherapy student to complete her studies and provide them with a better life. But it was not to be. She died of grievous injuries at Mount Elizabeth Hospital on Saturday.
Her father, earning a monthly salary of 5,000 rupees (US$110), had sold the family's small land-holding to pay for her education as a physiotherapist.
She also gave tuition to help pay her school and college fees, Indian media reports said.
That she was a fighter was evident in the small notes that she wrote and the gestures she made afterwards, during her hours of consciousness at the Delhi hospital.
"They must be punished," she wrote on Dec21, according to the Press Trust of India.
In one note, she said her ATM card and mobile phone were missing. Her brother assured her that the card had been blocked.
She also asked about the condition of her friend, who had been beaten in the attack.
When she was able to speak, she gave statements twice to a magistrate.
(Compiled from Indian media reports)