Family Of Delhi Woman, Raped And Paraded, In Shock: "Want Her Back Home"

A 20-year-old mother who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, beaten and paraded by her neighbours in Delhi last week is recovering from her wounds and shock away from her family and her three-year-old son.

She is not in a mental state to look after her child, her family says.

The woman was allegedly kidnapped last Wednesday, locked in a room near her home in Delhi's Shahdara and assaulted before she was paraded on the streets, her head shaved, face blackened and a garland of shoes around her neck.

The reason, it seems, is that she did not return the affections of a 14-year-old boy who was allegedly obsessed with her and died by suicide in November.

"His family blames my sister for their son's death," said the woman's sister.

Her attackers were mostly from the boy's family - including women and teenage boys - who are the woman's neighbours in Kasturba Nagar.

Twelve have been arrested from the neighbourhood - eight women and four men.

Videos show glimpses of the cruelty she endured for hours.

In one video, apparently filmed in the room where she was confined, she is beaten mercilessly, and voices suggest how she should be assaulted. Young boys also join in as she is thrashed and kicked. One woman starts chopping off her hair, unfazed as she screams for help.

She was allegedly raped as women egged on her assaulters.

Another video showed her being dragged on the street by a mob that cheers and claps as she is slapped and hit repeatedly.

"No girl, no daughter should have to go through this. Not on any street or in any lane," said the woman's father, paralysed and bed-ridden.

"The way she was beaten, traumatised, she was blamed wrongly. I don't care about justice - I want my daughter back home," he said, his voice trembling.

He is in shock - the entire family is - that no one tried to help or put a stop to the horrific assault.

"Gautam Gambhir from BJP visited us, so did Anil Choudhary from Congress. We have been given ration of two month without even asking. We are being offered support and help. Who helps otherwise? Even if one begs, they don't get so much help," the father told NDTV.

Her sister said: "If people had showed some support at that time, this wouldn't have happened. Now what do we say? What has happened has happened."

The Delhi Police today denied rumours that the woman had died by suicide, calling them an attempt to stir trouble ahead of elections in states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Sources in the central government say intelligence agencies have warned about social media influencers based out of Canada, the UK and the US trying to spark violence using sensitive incidents like this.

In the spiraling outrage over barbarism in the country's capital, several politicians have reacted.

"The video of a 20-year-old woman being brutally beaten up exposes a very disturbing face of our society. The bitter truth is that many Indians don't consider women to be human. This shameful fact needs to be acknowledged and called out," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

The BJP's Gautam Gambhir said he had spoken to police officers and assured action.

"I assure that these animals (men and women) will not be spared. Every kind of support will be provided to the survivor," tweeted BJP MP Gautam Gambhir.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called it a shameful incident.

"How did these attackers dare to do this? I urge the Union Home Minister and Lieutenant Governor to instruct the police to take strict action and to focus more on law and order. The people of Delhi will not tolerate such crimes at any cost," Mr Kejriwal wrote.

Last week, the Delhi women's panel shared the disturbing video and issued notice to the Delhi Police.