Honour gang-rape victim with Ashoka Chakra: BJP

NEW DELHI: The Delhi unit of BJP today demanded that the 23-year-old gang-rape victim be honoured with the Ashoka Chakra, the country's highest civilian award for bravery, as her courage has "inspired the whole nation".

In letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP state unit president Vijender Gupta made the demand to honour the girl posthumously during Republic Day.

"The courage and bravery she exhibited has inspired the whole nation and shaken our national consciousness," Gupta stated in the letter.

He cited the case of India's youngest recipient of the Ashoka Chakra, Neerja Bhanot, to emphasise the need to honour the young paramedical student, who died in a Singapore hospital after being brutally assaulted in a moving bus here on December 16.

Bhanot, who was a flight attendant with Pan Am airlines, died while saving passengers from terrorists on board the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 on September 5, 1986.

"You were one of the few people who were present at the time her body returned from Singapore and I am confident that you will consider the feeling of the nation to honour her with the Ashoka Chakra," Gupta said in the letter.