"Have they been caught?"
This is what the young student, who was gangraped andbrutally assaulted in a moving bus on Sunday night, asked herfamily members today when they met her in Safdurjung hospitalwhere she is undergoing treatment.
Sources said the 23-year-old girl, who remained criticalbut stable, cannot speak as she has a tube in her mouth andcommunicates by writing on paper.
"She is aware that the media has taken up the case. Thegirl asked her family whether the accused have been caught,"they said.
Sources said her family is thankful to media but at thesame time does not want their privacy intruded.
Yesterday, she had spoken to her mother and said, "Iwant to live".
Having undergone a surgery to remove her gangrenousintestine, doctors said the girl passed an "uneventful night"and is "stable, alert and conscious".
"The night after the elective exploratory laparotomy,was uneventful. In the morning she was in stable condition.
She continues to remain in ICU on life support, her vitalparameters like blood pressure, urine output, respiratory ratewere within acceptable limits," Dr B D Athani, MedicalSuperintendent of Safdarjung Hospital, told reporters.
"She is making an attempt to breathe on her own and weare about to start to give her total parenteral nutrition(TPN), meaning providing nutrition through intravenous route,as she won't be able to take her feed from her mouth becauseof the intestinal loss," he said.
In the evening, doctors said, she was in the samecondition.
The doctors, however, said that there were some signs ofreduction of the total count (of the blood cells) and therewas mild diminution of platelet count, which was 41,000 thismorning, "otherwise she is alert and conscious".
Athani said infection in this case was one of the impending dangers that could result in complications.
"It is one of the expected, anticipated danger and toavert that we have been giving her antibiotics from day onein adequate amount. As you know that the intestine was in astate of gangrenous condition and there are perennial woundsalso," Athani said.
Asked about her being removed from ventilator, thedoctors said, "She had always been on ventilator. On 18thmorning she was on partial support but she had been onventilator support. We have made no attempt to take her offthe ventilator support, that is not something urgentlyrequired to be done."
The doctors said their "immediate and foremost concern"was to get her out of intensive care unit (ICU) and make herstable.
Lauding the girl's spirit, Athani said she has an"immense fighting spirit" as despite sustaining such grievousinjuries, "she had been stable and remained almost alert andwithstood too, apart from assault, the all exploratoryinterventions."
"She is a brave girl and withstanding right from the dayof assault till today everything."
Asked if she was communicating, Athani said, "She isconscious but not able to speak as there is a tube inside forventilation as she is on ventilator. She is able tocommunicate with gestures. We are not disturbing her again andagain to communicate and we know that she is alert."
Doctors, who have been treating her, have termed her caseas "extremely unusual and extremely rare" and said they havenever seen such grave injuries to the intestine in cases ofsexual assault.