"Rape not the end of life; want to join duty", says Mumbai gang-rape victim

MUMBAI: "Rape is not the end of life. I want strictest punishment for all the accused and want to join duty as early as possible".

This is the message the young photojournalist has sent out from her hospital bed to people who feel outraged at her gangrape by five men at the abandoned Shakti Mills compound Thursday evening.

"She is recuperating from her injuries and trauma. She is still not completely out of trauma but she is composed," said Nirmala Samant Prabhawalkar, a member of the National Commission for Women who met the 22-year-old gangrape victim convalescing at Jaslok Hospital.

Reflecting the toughness and strength of character, the journalist, working as an intern with an English magazine, also wants to be back on duty.

"I want to join duty as early as possible," the victim , who was sexually assaulted while on an assignment, told Prabhawalkar.