Gang Rape Victim's Dad: Her Name Is Jyoti

She is faceless and nameless, known only as "victim." But the father of the Indian woman who died after a brutal gang rape that stunned a nation is speaking out, and tells the Sunday Mirror that she is Jyoti Singh Pandey. “We want the world to know her real name," says Badri Singh Pandey, an airport worker who had just returned home when a Delhi hospital called to say his 23-year-old daughter had been in an "accident." "My daughter didn’t do anything wrong, she died while protecting herself. I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other women who have survived these attacks. They will find strength from my daughter.” Indian officials have refused to name her, and mainstream Indian media still refers to her as "Amanat," or "treasure."

While in the hospital, the father says "she did write on some paper that she wanted to live, she wanted to survive and stay with us." He says that Jyoti gave the police two statements, which he couldn't bear to listen to, but her mother stayed with her "and told me what happened. I don’t have the words to describe the incident. All I can say is they’re not human, not even animals. They’re not of this world. I hope no one ever goes through what she had to endure." He adds, “I so desperately wanted her to survive, even though she would have to live with a memory of that attack. We’re so devastated that she’s gone." Jyoti Singh Pandey's friend, 28-year-old Awindra Pandey, spoke out Friday about the attack, saying, "she tried to save me." (More Jyoti Singh Pandey stories.)