Nirbhaya's parents said it was Rahul Gandhi who always stood by them. (File photo)
Highlights
- Family says Rahul Gandhi counselled Nirbhaya's brother and motivated him
- Rahul Gandhi stood by us, strictly told us to keep it "secret": father
- Brother trained at a government-funded institute in Raebareli
Nirbhaya's younger brother has joined a private airline after completing his commercial pilot training and his parents cannot stop thanking Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for making it possible.
Badrinath Singh - the father of the 23-year-old whose fatal gang-rape in 2012 left the nation shocked and angry - said that the Congress leader had helped the grief-stricken family in "every way possible he could".
"My son (he refused to name him) is now a pilot. He completed his training recently. He has joined IndiGo Airlines and is already flying planes. And it is true it was possible because of Rahul Gandhi," said Mr Singh, who works at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
He said his son after completing his Class 12 got admitted to the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi, a government-funded autonomous institute in Rae Bareli -- the Lok Sabha constituency of Rahul Gandhi's mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
"Rahul Gandhi made it possible. He looked after us after the incident," the father said, referring to the December 16, 2012 night when his daughter was brutally gang-raped. She died 13 days later in a Singapore hospital.
"He (Gandhi) helped us emotionally. He helped us in many ways. He helped us monetarily. Otherwise, how was it possible for us to make our son a pilot."
Mr Singh said many came to help the family initially, but it was Gandhi who stood by us always and had strictly told us to keep it a "secret".
"He used to tell us he was not doing it for his politics. It was purely on humanitarian basis. He used to tell us not to speak to the media," Mr Singh said, adding that he too has nothing to do with Mr Gandhi's politics, "but the truth remains the truth, and we cannot thank him enough."
He said the Congress leader used to counsel his son regularly and motivated him to do something good in his life and support the family.
"He suggested to him to pursue a pilots training course and got him admitted to the Uran Akademi in Rae Bareli," Mr Singh said.