Several people walked by during the attack, which was over in less than two minutes. But only one person even tried to intervene before running away. Most moved past the violent assault, another person stopped and watched. The Washington Post is not linking to the footage because of its graphic nature.
The public murder, which took place just before 9 p.m. local time Sunday, is the latest example of the gruesome violence against women that continues to plague the country, raising questions about how India is tackling this persistent issue. Women in India have made rapid strides in all spheres — from boardrooms to politics — but conservative attitudes have changed more slowly, hampering that progress.
Janak Raj, the victim’s father, described in an emotional interview with CNN the terrible condition of his daughter’s battered body and how help arrived much too late. “She lay there lifeless. There was no point in taking her to hospital.”
The teenage victim’s name has not officially been released, but police say she was in a relationship with the attacker and was trying to end it. In India, violence and rape of women is predominantly carried out by people known to them rather than strangers, which makes it harder for crimes to be reported and more complicated to prosecute.
Dependra Pathak, Delhi’s special commissioner of police for law and order, said Monday that officials were investigating the evidence and would work to ensure the assailant gets the “strictest punishment.” Officials said they had arrested a 20-year-old male suspect named Sahil in connection with the killing.
When asked about the witnesses who failed to help the teenager as she was being viciously attacked, Pathak said their actions were “the height of insensitivity,” and called on people to intervene if they see a crime unfolding.
“It angers me to know that no one helped my daughter,” her father said. “I don’t feel alive today.”
Kalpana Sharma, an Indian author and journalist focused on issues of gender, said displays of public violence like the murder over the weekend, often stem from the very common brutality in the home.
“The hidden violence, which is away from public view is proportionally so much higher and yet it is at the root of these incidents of public violence,” she said in an interview. “If a woman’s status within a house is such that she can be beaten, bought for dowry or raped, what takes place in a public space is just an extension of this problem.”
Sharma, who lives in Mumbai, said the New Delhi murder highlights “the deep-rooted misogyny” that remains prevalent in Indian society, despite education and some steps that have been taken toward change, “the needle has not shifted enough.”
Sharma cites the 2012 gang rape of Jyoti Singh, 23, who was attacked by a group of six men as she returned home after watching a movie at a Delhi cinema. The young woman, who was badly beaten, died in hospital two weeks later.
Her death sparked mass protests and major backlash, forcing India’s government to grapple with questions about what it was doing to protect women from male violence. The country eventually ushered in legal reforms. The definition of rape was expanded, and stalking and voyeurism became criminal offenses.
But many say the measures do not go far enough and that across India many women still do not feel safe, at home or in public, and news of new assaults and murders are an almost daily occurrence.
Swati Maliwal, chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women, said India’s capital “has become extremely unsafe for women and girls,” while India was ranked as the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman in a large 2018 survey conducted by the Thompson Reuters Foundation.
Niha Masih contributed to this report.
