New Delhi:
The 23-year-old woman who was gang-raped on a moving bus is in stable condition but her platelet count has dropped further, doctors said today. Her case has enraged India, with protests being held every day to demand tougher punishment for rapists and more attention to women' safety by the government and the police.
(Special Feature: Anger across India over gang-rape)Doctors looking after the victim in the Intensive Care Unit of a Delhi hospital say they are also concerned about a possible infection developing in her liver.
The woman has undergone five surgeries since she was admitted to hospital late on Sunday night. Six men have been accused of battering her with an iron rod before raping her for an hour while the bus she had boarded with a friend kept circling South Delhi roads.
She is on a ventilator, so she scribbles messages for her doctors and family. Yesterday, she wrote "They must be punished" according to the Press Trust of India.
Her case has enraged India; protests are being held every day all over the country to demand a swift trial in her case, as well as fast-track courts for other rape cases, and better policing on the streets of Delhi to prevent violence against women.
Doctors yesterday said that they "have never seen a case like this one" and praised the victim's "immense fighting spirit."