“I was there as a representative of the government,” Singh told IANS. He said the funeral was held amid secrecy “as we wanted to respect the privacy of the family”, said Singh.
Singh said the body was brought to the cremation ground at 6.26 a.m. after which funeral rites were performed, including bathing the body and dressing it in a new attire.
According to government sources, Dikshit consoled the family and offered a small prayer for the woman, whose courage and fortitude galvanised the entire nation and led to mass outpouring as protesters came out on the street demanding justice for the woman and harsher punishment for rapists.
The woman's young male friend, who was also attacked by the six rapists, did not attend the cremation ceremony. The 28-year-old man and his family left Saturday night for Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, a police source told IANS.
The leaders laid bouquets as tribute on the pyre, after which a small ceremony was performed and the pyre finally lit.
The woman died in a Singapore hospital early Saturday.
Her body was embalmed after a post-mortem in Singapore and placed in a special casket before being flown to India in a chartered Air India aircraft. The parents of the woman accompanied the body.
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