Safdarjung doctors remember Nirbhaya as 'brave woman', say law has taken its course

Doctors at Safdarjung Hospital who treated 'Nirbhaya' in 2012 remembered her as a "brave woman" and said that with the hanging of the four convicts law had taken its course. The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was brutally gangraped in a moving bus by six men, including a juvenile, on the night of December 16, 2012. She was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital before being airlifted to Singapore for treatment where she succumbed to injuries.

Dr BD Athani, who was the medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital when Nirbhaya was treated, said they have got "closure". "I was involved in the medical management part of it. It was a very heinous crime that they committed. Law has taken its course. We had referred the patient to Singapore. We have got closure as far as this patient is concerned," he said.

Athani said they were under immense pressure at that time and despite that "medically, the case withstood scrutiny". "We did not spare any efforts in treating her and tried till the end. I appreciate the team of doctors. Right from the senior resident who was on duty when she was brought to the hospital to the other doctors. They were all emotionally affected but it did not affect the treatment," he said. A doctor, who was part of the team that treated her, said at that time, most of the women resident doctors in the hospital were "traumatised" seeing what she had gone through.

"She was an adult and she was with her friend when the incident happened. It was not even that late in the night. All the resident doctors who were on duty were shaken up. They felt it could have been any one of them in her place," she recalled.

The doctor said they have the same feelings as any woman who has followed the case closely would have at this point. "She was a very, very brave woman. When I saw her during her surgery, we didn't know she had so many problems. She was so calm and composed even after going through so much trauma. That's what we still remember and admire her for it," the doctor told PTI..

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