Girl’s health worsens in S’pore

The condition of the 23-year-old gangrape victim, being treated at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, deteriorated further on Friday evening. A medical bulletin issued by the hospital around 8.30 pm IST Friday evening said, “As of 9 pm (Singapore time) on 28 Dec, the patient’s condition has taken a turn for the worse. Her vital signs are deteriorating with signs of severe organ failure.” The bulletin from the Singapore hospital’s CEO, Dr Kelvin Loh, added that “her family members have been informed of her condition and they are currently by her side to encourage and comfort her.” The victim’s condition deteriorated “despite doctors fighting for her life, including putting her on maximum artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well as stimulants which maximise her body’s capability to fight infections”, the bulletin stated. “The high commission of India is with her and her family at this critical time. Our medical team continues to provide all possible treatment and care,” the hospital bulletin said. Earlier on Friday it was reported that the girl had infections in her lungs and abdomen as well as “significant brain injury”. While medical experts in India remained divided over the issue of shifting the victim to Singapore, the government maintained that flying her out of India for specialised treatment was a “medical decision” and “not a political move”. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Friday said: “Our only wish today is that she recovers and comes back to us and that no time is lost in bringing the perpetrators of such a barbarous act to justice.” Speaking to this newspaper, Dr Yatin Mehta of Medanta Medicity, who was in Singapore, claimed the victim had a swelling in the brain while she was at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. She has been unconscious since Wednesday (December 26) and was yet to regain consciousness. Dr Mehta revealed that the doctors at Mount Elizabeth Hospital fear that the brain injury “could possibly worsen”. “The doctors at the hospital are noncommittal about the effects of the brain injury,” he added.