India (MNN) — The New Delhi rape case that drew international attention in December moves forward.
According to a report from "The National"–a multi-platform news organization based in the UAE, the Singapore doctor who performed an autopsy on the 23-year-old New Delhi rape victim testified this week. This type of testimony in murder trials is often used to determine the exact cause of death, and it also helps determine whether or not the death was intentional, lawyers told "The National."
A judge has barred any press coverage of the trial, but the news service indicated that two additional doctors from Mount Elizabeth Hospital would also be testifying.
The victim was airlifted to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore with massive internal injuries after being raped and violated with an iron bar. Her death sparked international outcry when it hit world headlines in January, and mass protests erupted throughout India.
KP Yohannan of Gospel for Asia weighed in on the subject in recent days.
"I'm glad the whole thing was exposed," said Yohannan. "It is an awareness of the crime committed against women at-large."
On average, women are raped every 20 minutes in India, and according to a national study, over 24,000 rape cases were registered in 2011. More often than not, sexual assaults in various forms go unreported as victims catch all the blame.
Yohannan says the New Delhi rape case is like the movie Slumdog Millionaire: it opens the world's eyes to India's everyday reality.
"That awareness itself makes politicians and everybody do something about it," he says. In fact, India's president passed a new rape law in early February that gives harsher punishments for sexual crimes.
But are things actually changing on the ground? Not so much, says Yohannan.
"It is a problem that will take a long time," he explains, "because it's all tied up with irreligious beliefs and superstitions."
Pray for justice. Pray also that life would improve for women in India.
