Rahul Gandhi helped my son become a pilot, ‘Thank You’: Nirbhaya’s mother

NEW DELHI: The mother of Nirbhaya, who was brutally gangraped and killed on a moving bus in Delhi on December 16, 2012 that shook the entire nation, has thanked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for helping her son become a pilot.

“Aman (name changed) is a pilot now because of Rahul Gandhi,” said Asha Devi told Mail Today.

Apart from sponsoring Aman’s higher education, Rahul’s regular phone calls motivated him to achieve what he wanted, Asha told the tabloid.

“Rahul Gandhi was the one who counselled him and motivated Aman, elder of the two brothers of Nirbhaya, to achieve something good in life to support the family,” Asha told Mail Today.

The brother, who was 19 years old and a Class 12 student when his sister succumbed to grievous injuries inflicted by her rapists in 2012, completed his training from the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), in Rai Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, reported Sunday Guardian.

Asha told Mail Today that during Aman’s 18-month pilot’s training course, he used to get regular updates about the Nirbhaya trial. “When he was studying, Rahul used to talk to him over the phone and taught him to adopt a ‘never quit’ attitude.” she added.

Aman is now undergoing final training with a commercial airline in Gurugram. He will soon fly a plane. Asha also said Rahul’s sister Priyanka also calls them over the phone.

Six men had assaulted the 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern, and a male friend in a moving bus as it drove through the streets of New Delhi.

She was thrown out of the bus — so grievously injured that her insides were spilling out and a fortnight later, on December 29, 2012, she succumbed in a Singapore hospital.

With PTI inputs