December 2, 2025 • 40 mins
Originally published January 31, 2023.
It started as a simple night out; 2 friends going to see a movie. Afterward, the pair boarded a bus headed for home. What they encountered on that ride would be described in the following days as “barbaric”, “shocking”, and “horrific”.
This is the story of 23-year-old Jyoti Singh. She had completed her finals and was preparing for an internship to become a doctor of physiotherapy. She told her parents in December of 2012 not to worry; all of their troubles would be over soon. But on December 16th, what she encountered was pure evil.
Resources
National Resources for Sexual Assault Survivors and their Loved Ones | RAINN
___________________________________
Promo: Wicked DeedsWicked Deeds Podcast
___________________________________
Method & Madness is researched, written, hosted, & produced by Dawn Cate
Sound Editing by moInspo
Music by Tymur Khakimov from Pixabay
____________________________________
REACH OUT: methodandmadnesspod@gmail.com
FOLLOW:
DIVE INTO MORE:
MethodandMadnessPodcast.com
All sources can be found on our website under each episode description. Thank you for listening!
_____________________________________
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/method-madness--6241524/support.
It started as a simple night out; 2 friends going to see a movie. Afterward, the pair boarded a bus headed for home. What they encountered on that ride would be described in the following days as “barbaric”, “shocking”, and “horrific”.
This is the story of 23-year-old Jyoti Singh. She had completed her finals and was preparing for an internship to become a doctor of physiotherapy. She told her parents in December of 2012 not to worry; all of their troubles would be over soon. But on December 16th, what she encountered was pure evil.
Resources
National Resources for Sexual Assault Survivors and their Loved Ones | RAINN
___________________________________
Promo: Wicked DeedsWicked Deeds Podcast
___________________________________
Method & Madness is researched, written, hosted, & produced by Dawn Cate
Sound Editing by moInspo
Music by Tymur Khakimov from Pixabay
____________________________________
REACH OUT: methodandmadnesspod@gmail.com
FOLLOW:
DIVE INTO MORE:
MethodandMadnessPodcast.com
All sources can be found on our website under each episode description. Thank you for listening!
_____________________________________
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/method-madness--6241524/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before we begin, thank you for joining me for the
first episode of season three of Method and Madness. There's
a lot more to come, including a thirty seven year
old cold case that will take you, the listener, on
a road trip with me to seek answers. Today's case
came in as a suggestion and I was hesitant to
(00:21):
cover it at first, a warning that it's brutal in
its violence, but ultimately it's a story that needs to
be heard. Method and Madness is a true crime podcast
and contains descriptions of violence. This episode features graphic and
disturbing details of sexual assault and gang rape. Listener discretion
(00:44):
is advised.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
We have the best culture.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
In our culture, there is no place for women.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
This is Method and Madness Episode fifty four, Fearless jo
Ti Singh.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I'm your host. Don Gandhi.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Patrolman Raj Kumar heard the cries for help on the
side of the road in New Delhi, India. It was
dark out about ten to twenty pm near the Mahipalpur
flyover and overpass on National Highway eight in India. The
area was poorly lit, but lying amongst the overgrown bushes,
(01:45):
he saw a man and woman, both naked both injured.
There was a lot of blood. The officer rushed across
the highway to a hotel and got a bed sheet
and some water. He tore the sheet, using one half
to cover the woman in the other half to cover
the man. The pair were both conscious when they were
(02:05):
brought to a local hospital, and the details of what
they had endured that night were taken by medical personnel
and law enforcement. This was no accident, no rung of
the mill, robbery or argument gone wrong. The pair had
been left for dead after a heinous attack. Many would
(02:26):
say what they had encountered that night was pure evil.
Let's Dive in Life of Pie, a film adapted from
the novel by Jan Martin, is a spiritual and philosophical journey.
(02:49):
A teen named Pie must face all that is thrown
at him while in a rescue boat with a Bengal
tiger for two hundred and twenty seven days following a shipwreck.
Yah has no choice but to fight for survival while
also conditioning the animal. It's a beautiful story of truth,
belief and fearlessness. It's also the movie that Jyoti Singh
(03:14):
watched before boarding a bus that changed everything. She didn't
hang Bollywood posters on her walls like most teens her age,
Her parents say she would put up diagrams from textbooks.
Jyoti Singh was born in Uttar Pradesh, India, to Badrinath
Singh and Asha de Vi. Her name, Jyoti means light
(03:37):
and she would always say a girl can do anything.
Her father was an airport laborer who had worked hard
most of his life to escape poverty. The small rural
village where he built a modest home developed into a
small city, a metropolis even in the nineties and early
two thousands. Badriz and Asha's first child was a boy
(04:00):
who died at only three days old. Next came their
only daughter, Jioti, in nineteen eighty nine, followed by two sons.
Jioti had a hunger for knowledge and stood out as
a student. She wanted to be a doctor, a neurosurgeon
since the time she was little, and her parents were
nothing but supportive. Their concern, however, was the cost, as
(04:25):
they couldn't afford to put her through that intensive schooling.
She told her father, whatever money you have saved up
for my wedding, use that for my education. They did
one better. The family sold their ancestral land to pay
for Jotie's education. Her dream was to build a hospital
(04:45):
in her ancestral village, where there were no medical facilities.
Jioti went to college in de Heerdon and chose to
study physiotherapy while also working part time at an international
call center to pay for staying in a hostel. Between
her job and her studies, she usually only had a
(05:07):
chance to sleep for three to four hours a night,
but her determination was unwavering. By December of twenty twelve, Jyoti,
now twenty three years old, had finished her finals and
come home to be with her family. She could take
a breather now she was about to begin a six
month internship and then, as she told her mother and father,
(05:31):
all their troubles would be over.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
She was a doctor.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
On the evening of Sunday, December sixteenth, she planned to
go to an upscale mall with her friend, a software
engineer named Awindra Pandi, twenty eight years old. The two
had met through a mutual friend. They were going to
see a movie in socket, South Delhi and Jyoti would
be home.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
In two or three hours.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
But she didn't come home that night, and her parents
began to worry When she was answering their calls. It
was eleven thirty pm when Joti was brought to the
Seftarge Young Hospital in Delhi. She was conscious and terrified
and bleeding a lot. One of the surgeons working on
(06:16):
her said they'd never in their career seen anything like
the injuries that Joti had sustained that night, that her
entire system, all the organs that worked together, weren't functioning correctly,
and that they didn't think Jioti would survive longer than
two or three days. Her parents received the call. All
(06:37):
they knew was that Joti had been in an accident,
but the shocking, heartbreaking truth was revealed when they arrived
at the hospital and spoke to doctors and the police.
They were able to see their daughter and reassure her
that everything would be okay. Both Jyoti and Awindra described
(07:04):
what occurred that night as they traveled home after seeing
Life of Pie. A warning that the following segment details
what happened to them on a private bus. The violence
is extremely disturbing, so if this is too much for you,
please skip ahead a few minutes. The movie ended around
eight eight thirty pm that night, and Owindra was going
(07:26):
to accompany Jyoti home. There were no official public buses
available to go back to Dwarka, a city in the
southwest district of Delhi, and no auto drivers wanted to
take them that far of a distance. They managed to
get one rickshaw driver to take them two miles to
the Minerca bus stand. Jyoti and Owindra were looking for
(07:49):
a bus that was headed to their destination, but they
were skeptical when a young man from the steps of
a private bus called out, asking Jyoti where she was headed.
The pair knew that private buses or charter buses were
not necessarily safe, but the bus conductor assured them that
it would be fine, insisting that they bored and so
(08:10):
a Windra and Joti boarded the bus at around nine
thirty p m. Paying twenty rupees for the ride. A
Windraw noticed right before the bus was pulling away that
it appeared other potential passengers were denied entry to the bus,
and so it was the two of them and six others,
(08:32):
all men. One was driving and three others were in
the driver's cabin. Two other men, seemingly passengers, were sitting
behind the cabin. For the first few minutes. The trip
was uneventful. Jyoti and a Windra chatted as they sat
in two seats on the left side of the bus
until three of the men came from the cabin and
(08:52):
approached them, asking Jyoti what she was doing out so
late at night, and asking a Windra what he was
doing roaming around with a girl on her own. A
Winda responded, none of your business. Someone on the bus
turned off the interior lights and a Windraw was punched
by one of the men. He retaliated by hitting him back.
(09:13):
Both Owindra and Joti were yelling, and Jyoti attempted to
open one of the two bus doors, but was unsuccessful. Next,
she frantically tried calling the police on her cell phone,
but one of the attackers grabbed it away from her,
and then someone yelled, get the rod. Two of the
other men were now approaching Owindra and Jayoti. One of
(09:36):
them had produced an iron rod from the back of
the bus. The men robbed the pair of their belongings,
including their clothes, and then O Windra was struck several
times in the head with the rod. As he lie
on the floor between two seats. Joti tried to help
her friend, but was dragged down the aisle to the
back of the bus. Owindra attempted to defend but he
(10:01):
was held back while the men each took turns assaulting Joti.
As she furiously tried to fight back, they beat her,
raped her, and sodomized her with the metal rod. One
of the men then took over the wheel so that
the bus driver could take his turn. After Jyoti had
been brutally assaulted, one of the men reached inside of
(10:22):
her and began pulling out her intestines before yelling out
she's dead. One of the attackers told the others not
to leave the pair alive. Both Jyoti and Owindra were
then dragged down the bus aisle by their hair and
pushed out of the front door of the bus. Naked
and seriously injured, lying in the road, Awindra looked up
(10:44):
to see that the bus was now in reverse headed
toward them to run them over. He got up and
pulled Yoti to safety on the side of the road
as the bus took off. Now both Jyoti and Owindra
were lying in a strip of waste alongside National Highway
Number eight. They called out for help. As several drivers
(11:06):
went by, they looked but kept going. Finally someone stopped
and called for help. It was another twenty minutes before
a police fan pulled up, but it wasn't a full
on rescue just yet, according to Owindra. He said that
after the police fan pulled up, he and Joti were
questioned about what happened by both the police and the
(11:28):
onlookers that had stopped at Gawk. There was a lot
of blood and it seemed that there was more of
a curiosity of sorts regarding what happened rather than urgent
action to get the para medical attention. There was even
some arguing among police officers concerning jurisdiction. Finally, Owindra and
Joti were loaded into a police van and taken to
(11:50):
Seftarjong Hospital in Delhi. Once at the hospital, Owindra said
he waited naked in a pool of blood for another
two hours before he was provided with treatment. His family,
who'd been notified that he was at a hospital, spent
most of the night trying to track down his whereabouts. Meanwhile,
(12:11):
Jyoti was conscious and talking and relieved to see her
parents when they arrived at the hospital. As she burst
into tears. She assured her parents she was okay, but
that she'd been badly beaten. She was in an unbelievable
amount of pain, and the extent of her injuries was
like nothing the staff had ever seen. The list of
(12:33):
injuries that Joti was suffering due to these heinous acts
is incredibly disturbing, and it seems unnecessary to detail all
of them. However, it's important to understand the extent of
what she endured, so I'll provide a very basic overview
of the injuries. According to a doctor that treated her,
Joti had massive damage to her genitals, uterus, and intestines
(12:57):
caused by the metal rod. She had been slapped in
the face, kicked in the abdomen, and bitten repeatedly all
over her body her face, lips, arms, legs, breasts, and genitals.
Doctors explained to Jioti's father that they needed to perform
a laparotomy, colostomy, and iliostomy because of the ruptured intestine.
(13:22):
Risks included developing severe anemia. Doctors were fairly certain that
no repair could be made to the small or large bowel,
and that portions of the digestive system were absent. The
damage was primarily caused by inserting and pulling out a
metal rod repeatedly with a large magnitude of force. Almost immediately,
(13:45):
the public was made aware and they were furious. Words
like atrocious, horrific, barbaric, and shocking were used by everyone
from medical personnel to the citizens of India who didn't
know Joti's name. At the time, the country had laws
forbidding a rape victim's name from being released, but her
family has since proudly declared her name. For the time being,
(14:09):
though she was known by the nickname Nirbaia meaning fearless,
and people who hadn't ever met her were ready to
fight for her, even creating a solidarity corner outside.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Of the hospital gates.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
The outrage was heard all across India. The day after
the attack, protesters took to the street, thousands of them
women and men, to fight for the treatment of women
and for justice for Narbaia. In the streets, the protesters shouted,
we want justice. They held up signs that said hang
the rapists and girls are not objects. As police officers
(14:45):
tried to tame the crowds by using water cannons and
beating them with sticks, but the protesters weren't deterred. They
kept on fighting for Jotie and for all women. She
was young, healthy and had a strong will to live,
giving her family and the doctor's hope that she could
survive this. Jyoti underwent surgeries and was kept on a ventilator.
(15:09):
Many of her organs were failing, including her lungs. She
told her parents she wanted to live. Meanwhile, the police
were working to find the suspects. Using the statements by
(15:29):
jot and Awindra, police had a lot of information to
go on. They knew they were looking for a white
bus with the word Yadav on the side of it.
Inside there was a separate cabin for the driver, red
seats and yellow curtains. The bus had traveled through Mahipapor
that night and so cameras were checked at all the
(15:49):
businesses on that route, until finally a camera at a
hotel had exactly what was needed. Investigators were drawn to
one particular detail on the footage they reviewed. One bus
had passed by the area twice in a very short
time frame, something unusual for a bus to do on
that particular highway. It was identified as a private school
(16:14):
bus and from there the police narrowed down the search
to about sixty possible buses within twenty four hours of
the attack. The exact bus was located near Ravida's Colony,
a semi slum in New Delhi with a couple hundred
one room homes. It matched the physical description of the
(16:36):
bus that was seen on camera twice on the night
in question, once at nine thirty four pm and once
at nine fifty four pm. It also had a missing
front wheel cover and the word Yadav printed on the side,
details that had been provided by Owindra. When the police
got the bus, they found a man named Ram Singh inside.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Hey everyone, I'm Brittany the host of Wicked Deeds, a
true crime podcast where I, alongside my co host John
That's Me, delve into all things true crime related with
an emphasis on unsolved cases throughout the Northeast United States.
I chronicle the stories while John analyzes each case using
his investigative background.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Through our conversations, we aim to bring more attention to
these cases and, with any luck, help produce new needs
to be worked.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
You can find Wicked Deeds on all major platforms, with
new episodes releasing on Tuesdays. Be sure to subscribe and
follow us on our socials to stay up to date
on all things wicked.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
The police had found the bus, which had water pooled
inside from being washed recently, and a thirty year old
man rom sing inside. When he saw that he was
being approached, he ran but was quickly captured, his clothing
stained in blood. Once in custody, he confessed and showed
the officers not one but two iron rods located in
(18:11):
a bus compartment. One rod was about two feet or
fifty nine centimeters long, with a circumference of about two
point five inches or six centimeters. It was flat at
one end with a curved like hook on the other end.
The rod had multiple serrations. The second rod was about
(18:32):
twenty eight inches or seventy centimeters long, both of them
covered in dry blood. He informed the officers of where
he had thrown a Windress sim card after stealing his
cell phone. Ram Singh, a private bus driver who made
a living transporting students to and from school, was the
first man arrested. His brother, twenty six year old Mukesh Singh,
(18:57):
struggled to hold down a job but occasionally drove a taxi.
After the attack, he had fled looking to hide out
in Karali, a remote village, where he was found, interrogated
and arrested. He eventually told police what route that bus
had taken during the attack. Recovered from him were his
blood stained clothes, as well as a Windross Samson Galaxy phone.
(19:20):
The two brothers were known about the neighborhood for their
petty crimes, violent nature, and alcohol consumption. A juvenile who
was not named at the time because of his age,
Muhammed A Fraz, was found at a bus stop and arrested.
He was in possession of Jiotti's ATM card. When police
(19:42):
went to his mother's home, she told them that she
didn't even know he was still alive. She hadn't seen
him in three years. A fourth man, twenty eight year
old Aksheza Kor, who was married with an infant, had
been staying with bus driver Ram Singh, but had fled
to He was arrested on the twenty first. Rounding out
(20:04):
the arrests were the final two men, twenty year old
Venet Sharma, who was in possession of his blood stained
clothes and the hush puppy leather shoes that had been
stolen from a Windra, as well as Jyoti's Nokia phone,
and finally nineteen year old Pawen Gupta, who also had
blood stained clothes and a Windra's watch. They also lived
(20:27):
in Rubutu's colony in New Delhi. All of the accused
men had their cell phone seized so that records could
be examined. They were also positively identified by a Windra.
On top of the positive identification by the victim, there
were multiple tests conducted to build a case. Physical evidence
(20:49):
collected from the bus included the fingerprints of a Windra
and Jioti. Several prints of the accused were also collected.
With the suspects in custody, a time line was beginning
to emerge. On the evening of December sixteenth, bus driver Rahm,
who was a notoriously heavy drinker, and his brother Mukesh,
(21:11):
had been partying at home with the juvenile Mohammed and
a fourth man, aksheng Ram, received a request from the
owner of the bus to go out and purchase gas.
It was around eight pm when Ram said to the others,
let's go have some fun. Typically that meant drinking and
(21:31):
robbing people. As they were headed to the bus, they
called out to two other men in the neighborhood Pawen Gupta,
who worked at a fruit stand and loved to fight,
and Venet Sharma, a part time instructor at a gym,
who also loved to fight and would reportedly take steroids.
The six men boarded the bus. Ram's brother Mukesh was
(21:54):
behind the wheel and drove the men through the congested
city streets, pulling up to bus stops to try and
attract potential passengers. The bus was not licensed as public transportation,
but it didn't matter much if caught. Offenders would usually
pay a bribe to avoid paying a fine. The juvenile
Mohammed would call out to the waiting travelers asking if
(22:18):
anyone needed a ride to Nehru place. A man took
them up on it and boarded the bus as it
drove off, The man was robbed and beaten and thrown
from the moving bus. Next, the six men pulled up
to another bus stop at a suburb named Munurka. To
increase the chance of pulling off their ruse, three of
(22:40):
the men sat in separate seats to give off the
impression that they were passengers. Mohammed stepped out of the
bus and called out for Palam crossing and Dwarka sector ie.
Mukesh was driving, and Ram and Aksha were in the
driver's cabin with him. Once the Windra and Joti had
been seated for about a minute, the interior lights were
turned off by Ram. He Mohammed and Aksha began their
(23:05):
assault on a Windra and then asked Vinet and Powen
to bring over the iron rods, which they then used
to unleash blows onto Owindra's head, legs and body. Jyoti
began to scream for help as the bus kept on
moving while Venet and Powen had Awindra pinned down. Ram
Akhshah and Mohammed hit Chiyoti and dragged her to the
(23:28):
back of the bus, where they took turns raping her.
Muhammad assaulted her first, followed by Ram and then Aksha.
When they were done, they switched places with the men
who were holding down a Windra, and so Veney and
Powen went to the rear of the bus and assaulted
and raped Jyoti. According to a Windra, he noticed at
(23:50):
one point that the bus had slowed down, and it
was then that he realized the driver Mukesh had handed
off his duties to one of his friends before he
who went to the rear of the bus and attacked
and raped Jyoti. All six men had taken part until
each one had their turn assaulting her. A Windred then
(24:12):
heard someone announce she's dead. After Joti and Owindra were
thrown from the moving bus, the six men returned home
to Ravida's colony with all of the stolen items they'd
gotten that night. They used water from a standpipe to
clean up and burned Jyoti's and Owindra's clothing, deciding to
keep one pair of shoes. Once back at the home
(24:34):
of Ram and Mukesh, Mohammed divvied up the night's score, cash, phones,
credit cards, a watch. While Owindra was recovering from his injuries,
Jyoti was in critical condition. She had provided her statement
(24:58):
to police and to her die about what had occurred,
but her body was in a state in which she
would most likely have to be fed via IV for
the rest of her life, as the damage to her
internal organs were so great and she was missing most
of her intestine. She was transferred from the hospital in
India to a hospital in Singapore, Mount Elizabeth, which was
(25:20):
known for its trauma center and organ transplants. Some believed
she was transferred there for political reasons, as the last
thing India wanted was to have Nearbayah die in their country.
Two days later, Jiotti lost her fight and she died
on December twenty ninth due to sepsis, multiple organ failure,
(25:43):
and multiple other injuries. Her body was brought back to
India and she was cremated. The Netflix series Deli Crime
details the investigation from the point of view of the
police officers. To eliminate any doubt that they had the
right men, investigators used dental forensics, matching the bitemarks on
(26:05):
Jioti's body to the suspects dental impressions. All six men
were charged that March, and over eighty witnesses were interviewed
and testified at the trial, including doctors that treated Jyoti
and the police officers that investigated. Five of the men
denied their involvement altogether, but Mukesh Singh, the man who
(26:27):
was driving the bus, admitted to being there. According to him,
and in contrast with the statements made by the victims,
he said he never left the driver's cabin during the attack.
The DNA evidence says otherwise. Samples were taken from all
of the accused, blood saliva, fingernail clippings, bloodstains from clothing
(26:50):
matching saliva to bitemarks found on Jioti's body, and positive
matches were found to prove that Mukesh, as stated by
a Windra, did take part.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
In the assault.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
There's a BBC documentary on this case called India's Daughter,
which was banned in India. In it, there are interviews
with Chioti's family, her parents who are just so lovely
and were clearly so supportive of their daughter's ambitions and endeavors,
who were questioned when she was born by family members
why they were celebrating Jyoti's birth like she was a boy.
(27:25):
They didn't see it that way. They were elated to
have Goot and it never mattered to them if she
were a boy or a girl. Also in that documentary,
and this was really difficult to watch, so trigger warning
if you decide to check it out, there's an interview
with one of the attackers, Mukesh in it. He's in
jail and refers to the assault on Awindra and the
(27:48):
rape and murder of Jyoti as the incident and the accident.
He says how the intention was not to rape or
assault anyone, that his brother just wanted to teach their
to inquire on who this man was and why he
was out with this young woman the morality police, I suppose.
(28:08):
I doubt much of what he said is taken seriously
by anyone with critical thinking skills, and so much of
it is posturing, his story full of holes and obvious lies,
attempting to deny his involvement. Conveniently, he's read a list
of the injuries inflicted on Jyoti and he sits there expressionless.
(28:29):
He goes on to make several comments about the brutal rape,
like that Joti shouldn't have fought back, she should have
allowed the rape, and she would have been let go afterward.
He also said quote, you can't clap with one hand,
it takes two hands to clap. A decent girl won't
(28:50):
roam around at nine o'clock at night. A girl is
far more responsible for rape than a boy. His belief
was that boys and girls are not equal. Housework and
housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars
at night, doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes. According to him,
(29:13):
only about twenty percent of girls are good. To add
to that was his defense attorney EML. Sharma, who moments
later was interviewed. You heard his quote at the top
of the episode saying, how there's no place for women
in this documentary. He just keeps getting worse. Quote the
moment she came out of her house with a boy
(29:33):
who was neither her husband nor her brother. She left
her morality and reputation as a doctor, as well as
a girl's morality also in the house, and she came
out just like a woman. A female is just like
a flower. It gives a very good looking, very soft
performance pleasant. A man is just like a thorn, strong,
(29:57):
tough enough. That flower always needs protection. If you put
that flower in a gutter, it is spoiled. If you
put that flower in a temple, it will be worshiped.
In our society, we never allow our girls to come
out from the house after six thirty or seven thirty
or eight thirty in the evening with any unknown person.
(30:21):
If you put your diamond on the street, surely a
dog will take it out. His sentiments are matched by
another defense attorney who chimes in with quote, if very important,
if very necessary, she should go outside, but she should
go with family members. This is not a sentiment that
(30:44):
represents every man in India, but for many, a respectable
woman should not go to a movie with a mail
at night and shall be punished for breaking these rules.
To be treated worse than an animal, to be treated
in a way that animals don't even treat their prey.
Of course, none of it is about teaching someone a
lesson immorality. It's about control and misogyny. While researching this case,
(31:09):
the question kept coming up, how are people raised this way?
Watching that same BBC documentary, the viewer has given a
glimpse into the answer to that question. During an interview
with the father of Ram and Mukesh, their father said
quote it was Akshay and the juvenile's fault. They brought
alcohol onto the bus. Their mother said that she and
(31:33):
the men's father were not present in the home that
day and that they had no idea what did or
didn't happen. The jail psychiatrist that was examining the men
while they waited trial described that the mentality is, hey,
it's all right. We are in enjoyment mode. On March eleventh,
(31:54):
twenty thirteen, news outlets reported that Ram Singh had died
by suicide from inside his jail cell. According to a
spokesperson at the jail, Ram had made a rope out
of a blanket and hung himself, but his family argued
that he'd been killed by police. His father said he
had an injured hand and had been raped by other
(32:15):
inmates and just wouldn't have killed himself. Of the five
surviving attackers, the juvenile Mohammed, who was seventeen at the
time of the attack, was given the maximum sentence of
three years, much to the dismay of Jioti's parents, who
felt that he should have been given a much harsher punishment.
(32:35):
He was reportedly the most brutal of the men and
the one who had lured the pair onto the bus.
The other four men went to trial where the prosecution
laid out all of the evidence related to the charges
charges of dakoity which is armed robbery by a gang
of people in India, abduction, gang, rape and murder, and
(32:57):
that laid out evidence was thorough and damning. There was
the man that had been picked up and robbed in
the bus earlier on the night in question. There were
the eyewitness statements Biowindra, as well as the statements that
Choti had made when interviewed. The fact that the men
had prevented other passengers from boarding the bus showed premeditation.
(33:21):
The footage showing the bus in the area at the
time that the assaults took place. All of the stolen
belongings that were found on each of the accused matches
between the bite mark on Jaoti's body that lined up
with dental impressions taken by the accused. Blood recovered from
the two iron rods that ram Singh produced from the
(33:43):
bus on that day he was arrested was a match
with Jyoti's DNA profile, DNA's samples that had been collected
from the victims from the accused, their clothes, the iron rods,
the bus, and even the dumping spot. The bodily harm
done it was detailed and said to be done with
the intention of causing death. The prosecution also needed to
(34:07):
prove Mukesh's involvement, as he claimed he was present, that
he never left the driver's seat. It was said that
even if he had remained driving the entire time, that
he was to be held just as accountable as the others.
He had knowledge of what was happening on the bus
and continued driving in order to allow the crimes to
(34:27):
continue taking place. At the end of the day, though,
even as the prosecution was dotting all of their eyes
and crossing all of their tees, the DNA evidence proved
that Mukesh had bloodstains on his clothes. The defense tried
to argue that a Windre's testimony was faulty because he
didn't describe the iron rods the doctor that was treating him.
(34:49):
They also said that Yoti's statements should be inadmissible since
she was now deceased and her injuries were not the
cause of her death, but it was medical negligence.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
That caused her death.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
The following was found to be proven that the four
accused abducted the victims by deceit robbing, causing injuries, and
that some of the accused had pinned down a Windra
while others took turns committing rape. That the accused threw
the victims out of the moving bus, shared the items
they had stolen from the victims, destroyed evidence thoroughly showing
(35:26):
a legal agreement between them to commit such legal acts,
and they had knowledge of the same. They were convicted
of criminal conspiracy, abduction with the attention to force the
victim into illicit intercourse, gang rape, committing unnatural offenses, murder, dakoity,
and attempted murder for the attack on a windra. All
(35:49):
four men were found guilty and sentenced to death. In
twenty fifteen, Mohammed, the juvenile at the time of the attack,
was released. It's been said that his actions were the
most heinous and what ultimately led to Jiotes's death. He's
reportedly changed his name. The four remaining men filed appeals
(36:12):
to have reduced sentences from death to life in prison.
They lost all of their appeals, and so early on
the morning of Friday, March twentieth, twenty twenty, all four
men were hanged outside of the jail. People celebrated, and
Jiotes's parents said they felt faith that justice had been restored.
(36:33):
How do you make sense of a case like this?
How do you go about understanding the why behind this
level of violence, this level of disregard of other human beings,
the complete hatred for women, and the inability to see
how someone has any accountability for their acts. It's true
(36:53):
that poverty, lack of education, and a patriarchal society contribute
heavily to the kind of violence, but the severe and
disturbing degree of the violence inflicted that night cannot be
excused with just a wave of well, that's poverty for you.
There's something else at play. When Gioti's friend of Windra
(37:14):
was later asked about the assault, he said that oppressors
think they can get away with being violent, and the
more they get away with it and there are no punishments,
the more they do it. When asked what failures contributed
to the brutal attack, he responded with this, Public transportation
in many parts of India is not safe and makes
(37:37):
people vulnerable. The police response to the attack, as he
and Cooti lie on the side of the road, was
delayed and inadequate. A Windra believed that more female officers
should be staffed to assist female victims of violent crime.
The onlookers, the lack of help received by the people
that were morbidly curious about the injured but didn't offer help,
(38:02):
the hospital where a Windra was still waiting naked two
hours after his arrival, And finally, society which compels victims
to hide and where women are scared to report rape
for fear of shame and at a fear of the repercussions,
often meaning more violence. Canadian Indian director Deepa Meta made
(38:26):
the documentary Anatomy of Violence, which goes into the social
conditions in Indian society, the lack of sexual education. She
says that the murder of Goti was what woke up
the country of India and sparked an overdue conversation about rape.
She said, quote, rich people rape. It knows no class,
(38:47):
it knows no geographic boundaries. It is based on patriarchy, power, misogyny,
how we bring up our kids. And it's the lack
of equality that's something we need to talk of. India
has opened hundreds of Narbaia Centers for women all across
the country, rape crisis centers named for the fearless Jotes Singh.
(39:13):
These centers will provide services to women who are survivors
of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence and will render
medical aid and support, legal assistance and other resources. Thanks
for sticking with me through this very difficult episode. It's
nearly impossible to understand how human beings can do this
(39:33):
to other human beings. As Gooti's dad put it, to
call them human is to give humanity a bad name
if we call them monsters. Even monsters have some limits.
These are totally the devil. Jyoti's mom now works with
others who are survivors of misogynistic violence.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
She and her husband.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Continue to talk about how proud they are of their daughter. Doctor.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Method and Madness.
Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and leave a
rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. To connect, I'm on
Twitter at Methodpod and on Instagram at Method and Madness
(40:16):
Pod to chat, suggest a case, or discuss the episode.
Reach out to me at Method and Madness Pod at
gmail dot com. Method and Madness is researched, written and
hosted by me. It is edited by Mowen Spoe. That's
it for this week. Until next time, take care of yourself.
For crisis support, text Hello to seven four one seven
(40:40):
for one
Before we begin, thank you for joining me for the
first episode of season three of Method and Madness. There's
a lot more to come, including a thirty seven year
old cold case that will take you, the listener, on
a road trip with me to seek answers. Today's case
came in as a suggestion and I was hesitant to
(00:21):
cover it at first, a warning that it's brutal in
its violence, but ultimately it's a story that needs to
be heard. Method and Madness is a true crime podcast
and contains descriptions of violence. This episode features graphic and
disturbing details of sexual assault and gang rape. Listener discretion
(00:44):
is advised.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
We have the best culture.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
In our culture, there is no place for women.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
This is Method and Madness Episode fifty four, Fearless jo
Ti Singh.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I'm your host. Don Gandhi.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Patrolman Raj Kumar heard the cries for help on the
side of the road in New Delhi, India. It was
dark out about ten to twenty pm near the Mahipalpur
flyover and overpass on National Highway eight in India. The
area was poorly lit, but lying amongst the overgrown bushes,
(01:45):
he saw a man and woman, both naked both injured.
There was a lot of blood. The officer rushed across
the highway to a hotel and got a bed sheet
and some water. He tore the sheet, using one half
to cover the woman in the other half to cover
the man. The pair were both conscious when they were
(02:05):
brought to a local hospital, and the details of what
they had endured that night were taken by medical personnel
and law enforcement. This was no accident, no rung of
the mill, robbery or argument gone wrong. The pair had
been left for dead after a heinous attack. Many would
(02:26):
say what they had encountered that night was pure evil.
Let's Dive in Life of Pie, a film adapted from
the novel by Jan Martin, is a spiritual and philosophical journey.
(02:49):
A teen named Pie must face all that is thrown
at him while in a rescue boat with a Bengal
tiger for two hundred and twenty seven days following a shipwreck.
Yah has no choice but to fight for survival while
also conditioning the animal. It's a beautiful story of truth,
belief and fearlessness. It's also the movie that Jyoti Singh
(03:14):
watched before boarding a bus that changed everything. She didn't
hang Bollywood posters on her walls like most teens her age,
Her parents say she would put up diagrams from textbooks.
Jyoti Singh was born in Uttar Pradesh, India, to Badrinath
Singh and Asha de Vi. Her name, Jyoti means light
(03:37):
and she would always say a girl can do anything.
Her father was an airport laborer who had worked hard
most of his life to escape poverty. The small rural
village where he built a modest home developed into a
small city, a metropolis even in the nineties and early
two thousands. Badriz and Asha's first child was a boy
(04:00):
who died at only three days old. Next came their
only daughter, Jioti, in nineteen eighty nine, followed by two sons.
Jioti had a hunger for knowledge and stood out as
a student. She wanted to be a doctor, a neurosurgeon
since the time she was little, and her parents were
nothing but supportive. Their concern, however, was the cost, as
(04:25):
they couldn't afford to put her through that intensive schooling.
She told her father, whatever money you have saved up
for my wedding, use that for my education. They did
one better. The family sold their ancestral land to pay
for Jotie's education. Her dream was to build a hospital
(04:45):
in her ancestral village, where there were no medical facilities.
Jioti went to college in de Heerdon and chose to
study physiotherapy while also working part time at an international
call center to pay for staying in a hostel. Between
her job and her studies, she usually only had a
(05:07):
chance to sleep for three to four hours a night,
but her determination was unwavering. By December of twenty twelve, Jyoti,
now twenty three years old, had finished her finals and
come home to be with her family. She could take
a breather now she was about to begin a six
month internship and then, as she told her mother and father,
(05:31):
all their troubles would be over.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
She was a doctor.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
On the evening of Sunday, December sixteenth, she planned to
go to an upscale mall with her friend, a software
engineer named Awindra Pandi, twenty eight years old. The two
had met through a mutual friend. They were going to
see a movie in socket, South Delhi and Jyoti would
be home.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
In two or three hours.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
But she didn't come home that night, and her parents
began to worry When she was answering their calls. It
was eleven thirty pm when Joti was brought to the
Seftarge Young Hospital in Delhi. She was conscious and terrified
and bleeding a lot. One of the surgeons working on
(06:16):
her said they'd never in their career seen anything like
the injuries that Joti had sustained that night, that her
entire system, all the organs that worked together, weren't functioning correctly,
and that they didn't think Jioti would survive longer than
two or three days. Her parents received the call. All
(06:37):
they knew was that Joti had been in an accident,
but the shocking, heartbreaking truth was revealed when they arrived
at the hospital and spoke to doctors and the police.
They were able to see their daughter and reassure her
that everything would be okay. Both Jyoti and Awindra described
(07:04):
what occurred that night as they traveled home after seeing
Life of Pie. A warning that the following segment details
what happened to them on a private bus. The violence
is extremely disturbing, so if this is too much for you,
please skip ahead a few minutes. The movie ended around
eight eight thirty pm that night, and Owindra was going
(07:26):
to accompany Jyoti home. There were no official public buses
available to go back to Dwarka, a city in the
southwest district of Delhi, and no auto drivers wanted to
take them that far of a distance. They managed to
get one rickshaw driver to take them two miles to
the Minerca bus stand. Jyoti and Owindra were looking for
(07:49):
a bus that was headed to their destination, but they
were skeptical when a young man from the steps of
a private bus called out, asking Jyoti where she was headed.
The pair knew that private buses or charter buses were
not necessarily safe, but the bus conductor assured them that
it would be fine, insisting that they bored and so
(08:10):
a Windra and Joti boarded the bus at around nine
thirty p m. Paying twenty rupees for the ride. A
Windraw noticed right before the bus was pulling away that
it appeared other potential passengers were denied entry to the bus,
and so it was the two of them and six others,
(08:32):
all men. One was driving and three others were in
the driver's cabin. Two other men, seemingly passengers, were sitting
behind the cabin. For the first few minutes. The trip
was uneventful. Jyoti and a Windra chatted as they sat
in two seats on the left side of the bus
until three of the men came from the cabin and
(08:52):
approached them, asking Jyoti what she was doing out so
late at night, and asking a Windra what he was
doing roaming around with a girl on her own. A
Winda responded, none of your business. Someone on the bus
turned off the interior lights and a Windraw was punched
by one of the men. He retaliated by hitting him back.
(09:13):
Both Owindra and Joti were yelling, and Jyoti attempted to
open one of the two bus doors, but was unsuccessful. Next,
she frantically tried calling the police on her cell phone,
but one of the attackers grabbed it away from her,
and then someone yelled, get the rod. Two of the
other men were now approaching Owindra and Jayoti. One of
(09:36):
them had produced an iron rod from the back of
the bus. The men robbed the pair of their belongings,
including their clothes, and then O Windra was struck several
times in the head with the rod. As he lie
on the floor between two seats. Joti tried to help
her friend, but was dragged down the aisle to the
back of the bus. Owindra attempted to defend but he
(10:01):
was held back while the men each took turns assaulting Joti.
As she furiously tried to fight back, they beat her,
raped her, and sodomized her with the metal rod. One
of the men then took over the wheel so that
the bus driver could take his turn. After Jyoti had
been brutally assaulted, one of the men reached inside of
(10:22):
her and began pulling out her intestines before yelling out
she's dead. One of the attackers told the others not
to leave the pair alive. Both Jyoti and Owindra were
then dragged down the bus aisle by their hair and
pushed out of the front door of the bus. Naked
and seriously injured, lying in the road, Awindra looked up
(10:44):
to see that the bus was now in reverse headed
toward them to run them over. He got up and
pulled Yoti to safety on the side of the road
as the bus took off. Now both Jyoti and Owindra
were lying in a strip of waste alongside National Highway
Number eight. They called out for help. As several drivers
(11:06):
went by, they looked but kept going. Finally someone stopped
and called for help. It was another twenty minutes before
a police fan pulled up, but it wasn't a full
on rescue just yet, according to Owindra. He said that
after the police fan pulled up, he and Joti were
questioned about what happened by both the police and the
(11:28):
onlookers that had stopped at Gawk. There was a lot
of blood and it seemed that there was more of
a curiosity of sorts regarding what happened rather than urgent
action to get the para medical attention. There was even
some arguing among police officers concerning jurisdiction. Finally, Owindra and
Joti were loaded into a police van and taken to
(11:50):
Seftarjong Hospital in Delhi. Once at the hospital, Owindra said
he waited naked in a pool of blood for another
two hours before he was provided with treatment. His family,
who'd been notified that he was at a hospital, spent
most of the night trying to track down his whereabouts. Meanwhile,
(12:11):
Jyoti was conscious and talking and relieved to see her
parents when they arrived at the hospital. As she burst
into tears. She assured her parents she was okay, but
that she'd been badly beaten. She was in an unbelievable
amount of pain, and the extent of her injuries was
like nothing the staff had ever seen. The list of
(12:33):
injuries that Joti was suffering due to these heinous acts
is incredibly disturbing, and it seems unnecessary to detail all
of them. However, it's important to understand the extent of
what she endured, so I'll provide a very basic overview
of the injuries. According to a doctor that treated her,
Joti had massive damage to her genitals, uterus, and intestines
(12:57):
caused by the metal rod. She had been slapped in
the face, kicked in the abdomen, and bitten repeatedly all
over her body her face, lips, arms, legs, breasts, and genitals.
Doctors explained to Jioti's father that they needed to perform
a laparotomy, colostomy, and iliostomy because of the ruptured intestine.
(13:22):
Risks included developing severe anemia. Doctors were fairly certain that
no repair could be made to the small or large bowel,
and that portions of the digestive system were absent. The
damage was primarily caused by inserting and pulling out a
metal rod repeatedly with a large magnitude of force. Almost immediately,
(13:45):
the public was made aware and they were furious. Words
like atrocious, horrific, barbaric, and shocking were used by everyone
from medical personnel to the citizens of India who didn't
know Joti's name. At the time, the country had laws
forbidding a rape victim's name from being released, but her
family has since proudly declared her name. For the time being,
(14:09):
though she was known by the nickname Nirbaia meaning fearless,
and people who hadn't ever met her were ready to
fight for her, even creating a solidarity corner outside.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Of the hospital gates.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
The outrage was heard all across India. The day after
the attack, protesters took to the street, thousands of them
women and men, to fight for the treatment of women
and for justice for Narbaia. In the streets, the protesters shouted,
we want justice. They held up signs that said hang
the rapists and girls are not objects. As police officers
(14:45):
tried to tame the crowds by using water cannons and
beating them with sticks, but the protesters weren't deterred. They
kept on fighting for Jotie and for all women. She
was young, healthy and had a strong will to live,
giving her family and the doctor's hope that she could
survive this. Jyoti underwent surgeries and was kept on a ventilator.
(15:09):
Many of her organs were failing, including her lungs. She
told her parents she wanted to live. Meanwhile, the police
were working to find the suspects. Using the statements by
(15:29):
jot and Awindra, police had a lot of information to
go on. They knew they were looking for a white
bus with the word Yadav on the side of it.
Inside there was a separate cabin for the driver, red
seats and yellow curtains. The bus had traveled through Mahipapor
that night and so cameras were checked at all the
(15:49):
businesses on that route, until finally a camera at a
hotel had exactly what was needed. Investigators were drawn to
one particular detail on the footage they reviewed. One bus
had passed by the area twice in a very short
time frame, something unusual for a bus to do on
that particular highway. It was identified as a private school
(16:14):
bus and from there the police narrowed down the search
to about sixty possible buses within twenty four hours of
the attack. The exact bus was located near Ravida's Colony,
a semi slum in New Delhi with a couple hundred
one room homes. It matched the physical description of the
(16:36):
bus that was seen on camera twice on the night
in question, once at nine thirty four pm and once
at nine fifty four pm. It also had a missing
front wheel cover and the word Yadav printed on the side,
details that had been provided by Owindra. When the police
got the bus, they found a man named Ram Singh inside.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Hey everyone, I'm Brittany the host of Wicked Deeds, a
true crime podcast where I, alongside my co host John
That's Me, delve into all things true crime related with
an emphasis on unsolved cases throughout the Northeast United States.
I chronicle the stories while John analyzes each case using
his investigative background.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Through our conversations, we aim to bring more attention to
these cases and, with any luck, help produce new needs
to be worked.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
You can find Wicked Deeds on all major platforms, with
new episodes releasing on Tuesdays. Be sure to subscribe and
follow us on our socials to stay up to date
on all things wicked.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
The police had found the bus, which had water pooled
inside from being washed recently, and a thirty year old
man rom sing inside. When he saw that he was
being approached, he ran but was quickly captured, his clothing
stained in blood. Once in custody, he confessed and showed
the officers not one but two iron rods located in
(18:11):
a bus compartment. One rod was about two feet or
fifty nine centimeters long, with a circumference of about two
point five inches or six centimeters. It was flat at
one end with a curved like hook on the other end.
The rod had multiple serrations. The second rod was about
(18:32):
twenty eight inches or seventy centimeters long, both of them
covered in dry blood. He informed the officers of where
he had thrown a Windress sim card after stealing his
cell phone. Ram Singh, a private bus driver who made
a living transporting students to and from school, was the
first man arrested. His brother, twenty six year old Mukesh Singh,
(18:57):
struggled to hold down a job but occasionally drove a taxi.
After the attack, he had fled looking to hide out
in Karali, a remote village, where he was found, interrogated
and arrested. He eventually told police what route that bus
had taken during the attack. Recovered from him were his
blood stained clothes, as well as a Windross Samson Galaxy phone.
(19:20):
The two brothers were known about the neighborhood for their
petty crimes, violent nature, and alcohol consumption. A juvenile who
was not named at the time because of his age,
Muhammed A Fraz, was found at a bus stop and arrested.
He was in possession of Jiotti's ATM card. When police
(19:42):
went to his mother's home, she told them that she
didn't even know he was still alive. She hadn't seen
him in three years. A fourth man, twenty eight year
old Aksheza Kor, who was married with an infant, had
been staying with bus driver Ram Singh, but had fled
to He was arrested on the twenty first. Rounding out
(20:04):
the arrests were the final two men, twenty year old
Venet Sharma, who was in possession of his blood stained
clothes and the hush puppy leather shoes that had been
stolen from a Windra, as well as Jyoti's Nokia phone,
and finally nineteen year old Pawen Gupta, who also had
blood stained clothes and a Windra's watch. They also lived
(20:27):
in Rubutu's colony in New Delhi. All of the accused
men had their cell phone seized so that records could
be examined. They were also positively identified by a Windra.
On top of the positive identification by the victim, there
were multiple tests conducted to build a case. Physical evidence
(20:49):
collected from the bus included the fingerprints of a Windra
and Jioti. Several prints of the accused were also collected.
With the suspects in custody, a time line was beginning
to emerge. On the evening of December sixteenth, bus driver Rahm,
who was a notoriously heavy drinker, and his brother Mukesh,
(21:11):
had been partying at home with the juvenile Mohammed and
a fourth man, aksheng Ram, received a request from the
owner of the bus to go out and purchase gas.
It was around eight pm when Ram said to the others,
let's go have some fun. Typically that meant drinking and
(21:31):
robbing people. As they were headed to the bus, they
called out to two other men in the neighborhood Pawen Gupta,
who worked at a fruit stand and loved to fight,
and Venet Sharma, a part time instructor at a gym,
who also loved to fight and would reportedly take steroids.
The six men boarded the bus. Ram's brother Mukesh was
(21:54):
behind the wheel and drove the men through the congested
city streets, pulling up to bus stops to try and
attract potential passengers. The bus was not licensed as public transportation,
but it didn't matter much if caught. Offenders would usually
pay a bribe to avoid paying a fine. The juvenile
Mohammed would call out to the waiting travelers asking if
(22:18):
anyone needed a ride to Nehru place. A man took
them up on it and boarded the bus as it
drove off, The man was robbed and beaten and thrown
from the moving bus. Next, the six men pulled up
to another bus stop at a suburb named Munurka. To
increase the chance of pulling off their ruse, three of
(22:40):
the men sat in separate seats to give off the
impression that they were passengers. Mohammed stepped out of the
bus and called out for Palam crossing and Dwarka sector ie.
Mukesh was driving, and Ram and Aksha were in the
driver's cabin with him. Once the Windra and Joti had
been seated for about a minute, the interior lights were
turned off by Ram. He Mohammed and Aksha began their
(23:05):
assault on a Windra and then asked Vinet and Powen
to bring over the iron rods, which they then used
to unleash blows onto Owindra's head, legs and body. Jyoti
began to scream for help as the bus kept on
moving while Venet and Powen had Awindra pinned down. Ram
Akhshah and Mohammed hit Chiyoti and dragged her to the
(23:28):
back of the bus, where they took turns raping her.
Muhammad assaulted her first, followed by Ram and then Aksha.
When they were done, they switched places with the men
who were holding down a Windra, and so Veney and
Powen went to the rear of the bus and assaulted
and raped Jyoti. According to a Windra, he noticed at
(23:50):
one point that the bus had slowed down, and it
was then that he realized the driver Mukesh had handed
off his duties to one of his friends before he
who went to the rear of the bus and attacked
and raped Jyoti. All six men had taken part until
each one had their turn assaulting her. A Windred then
(24:12):
heard someone announce she's dead. After Joti and Owindra were
thrown from the moving bus, the six men returned home
to Ravida's colony with all of the stolen items they'd
gotten that night. They used water from a standpipe to
clean up and burned Jyoti's and Owindra's clothing, deciding to
keep one pair of shoes. Once back at the home
(24:34):
of Ram and Mukesh, Mohammed divvied up the night's score, cash, phones,
credit cards, a watch. While Owindra was recovering from his injuries,
Jyoti was in critical condition. She had provided her statement
(24:58):
to police and to her die about what had occurred,
but her body was in a state in which she
would most likely have to be fed via IV for
the rest of her life, as the damage to her
internal organs were so great and she was missing most
of her intestine. She was transferred from the hospital in
India to a hospital in Singapore, Mount Elizabeth, which was
(25:20):
known for its trauma center and organ transplants. Some believed
she was transferred there for political reasons, as the last
thing India wanted was to have Nearbayah die in their country.
Two days later, Jiotti lost her fight and she died
on December twenty ninth due to sepsis, multiple organ failure,
(25:43):
and multiple other injuries. Her body was brought back to
India and she was cremated. The Netflix series Deli Crime
details the investigation from the point of view of the
police officers. To eliminate any doubt that they had the
right men, investigators used dental forensics, matching the bitemarks on
(26:05):
Jioti's body to the suspects dental impressions. All six men
were charged that March, and over eighty witnesses were interviewed
and testified at the trial, including doctors that treated Jyoti
and the police officers that investigated. Five of the men
denied their involvement altogether, but Mukesh Singh, the man who
(26:27):
was driving the bus, admitted to being there. According to him,
and in contrast with the statements made by the victims,
he said he never left the driver's cabin during the attack.
The DNA evidence says otherwise. Samples were taken from all
of the accused, blood saliva, fingernail clippings, bloodstains from clothing
(26:50):
matching saliva to bitemarks found on Jioti's body, and positive
matches were found to prove that Mukesh, as stated by
a Windra, did take part.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
In the assault.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
There's a BBC documentary on this case called India's Daughter,
which was banned in India. In it, there are interviews
with Chioti's family, her parents who are just so lovely
and were clearly so supportive of their daughter's ambitions and endeavors,
who were questioned when she was born by family members
why they were celebrating Jyoti's birth like she was a boy.
(27:25):
They didn't see it that way. They were elated to
have Goot and it never mattered to them if she
were a boy or a girl. Also in that documentary,
and this was really difficult to watch, so trigger warning
if you decide to check it out, there's an interview
with one of the attackers, Mukesh in it. He's in
jail and refers to the assault on Awindra and the
(27:48):
rape and murder of Jyoti as the incident and the accident.
He says how the intention was not to rape or
assault anyone, that his brother just wanted to teach their
to inquire on who this man was and why he
was out with this young woman the morality police, I suppose.
(28:08):
I doubt much of what he said is taken seriously
by anyone with critical thinking skills, and so much of
it is posturing, his story full of holes and obvious lies,
attempting to deny his involvement. Conveniently, he's read a list
of the injuries inflicted on Jyoti and he sits there expressionless.
(28:29):
He goes on to make several comments about the brutal rape,
like that Joti shouldn't have fought back, she should have
allowed the rape, and she would have been let go afterward.
He also said quote, you can't clap with one hand,
it takes two hands to clap. A decent girl won't
(28:50):
roam around at nine o'clock at night. A girl is
far more responsible for rape than a boy. His belief
was that boys and girls are not equal. Housework and
housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars
at night, doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes. According to him,
(29:13):
only about twenty percent of girls are good. To add
to that was his defense attorney EML. Sharma, who moments
later was interviewed. You heard his quote at the top
of the episode saying, how there's no place for women
in this documentary. He just keeps getting worse. Quote the
moment she came out of her house with a boy
(29:33):
who was neither her husband nor her brother. She left
her morality and reputation as a doctor, as well as
a girl's morality also in the house, and she came
out just like a woman. A female is just like
a flower. It gives a very good looking, very soft
performance pleasant. A man is just like a thorn, strong,
(29:57):
tough enough. That flower always needs protection. If you put
that flower in a gutter, it is spoiled. If you
put that flower in a temple, it will be worshiped.
In our society, we never allow our girls to come
out from the house after six thirty or seven thirty
or eight thirty in the evening with any unknown person.
(30:21):
If you put your diamond on the street, surely a
dog will take it out. His sentiments are matched by
another defense attorney who chimes in with quote, if very important,
if very necessary, she should go outside, but she should
go with family members. This is not a sentiment that
(30:44):
represents every man in India, but for many, a respectable
woman should not go to a movie with a mail
at night and shall be punished for breaking these rules.
To be treated worse than an animal, to be treated
in a way that animals don't even treat their prey.
Of course, none of it is about teaching someone a
lesson immorality. It's about control and misogyny. While researching this case,
(31:09):
the question kept coming up, how are people raised this way?
Watching that same BBC documentary, the viewer has given a
glimpse into the answer to that question. During an interview
with the father of Ram and Mukesh, their father said
quote it was Akshay and the juvenile's fault. They brought
alcohol onto the bus. Their mother said that she and
(31:33):
the men's father were not present in the home that
day and that they had no idea what did or
didn't happen. The jail psychiatrist that was examining the men
while they waited trial described that the mentality is, hey,
it's all right. We are in enjoyment mode. On March eleventh,
(31:54):
twenty thirteen, news outlets reported that Ram Singh had died
by suicide from inside his jail cell. According to a
spokesperson at the jail, Ram had made a rope out
of a blanket and hung himself, but his family argued
that he'd been killed by police. His father said he
had an injured hand and had been raped by other
(32:15):
inmates and just wouldn't have killed himself. Of the five
surviving attackers, the juvenile Mohammed, who was seventeen at the
time of the attack, was given the maximum sentence of
three years, much to the dismay of Jioti's parents, who
felt that he should have been given a much harsher punishment.
(32:35):
He was reportedly the most brutal of the men and
the one who had lured the pair onto the bus.
The other four men went to trial where the prosecution
laid out all of the evidence related to the charges
charges of dakoity which is armed robbery by a gang
of people in India, abduction, gang, rape and murder, and
(32:57):
that laid out evidence was thorough and damning. There was
the man that had been picked up and robbed in
the bus earlier on the night in question. There were
the eyewitness statements Biowindra, as well as the statements that
Choti had made when interviewed. The fact that the men
had prevented other passengers from boarding the bus showed premeditation.
(33:21):
The footage showing the bus in the area at the
time that the assaults took place. All of the stolen
belongings that were found on each of the accused matches
between the bite mark on Jaoti's body that lined up
with dental impressions taken by the accused. Blood recovered from
the two iron rods that ram Singh produced from the
(33:43):
bus on that day he was arrested was a match
with Jyoti's DNA profile, DNA's samples that had been collected
from the victims from the accused, their clothes, the iron rods,
the bus, and even the dumping spot. The bodily harm
done it was detailed and said to be done with
the intention of causing death. The prosecution also needed to
(34:07):
prove Mukesh's involvement, as he claimed he was present, that
he never left the driver's seat. It was said that
even if he had remained driving the entire time, that
he was to be held just as accountable as the others.
He had knowledge of what was happening on the bus
and continued driving in order to allow the crimes to
(34:27):
continue taking place. At the end of the day, though,
even as the prosecution was dotting all of their eyes
and crossing all of their tees, the DNA evidence proved
that Mukesh had bloodstains on his clothes. The defense tried
to argue that a Windre's testimony was faulty because he
didn't describe the iron rods the doctor that was treating him.
(34:49):
They also said that Yoti's statements should be inadmissible since
she was now deceased and her injuries were not the
cause of her death, but it was medical negligence.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
That caused her death.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
The following was found to be proven that the four
accused abducted the victims by deceit robbing, causing injuries, and
that some of the accused had pinned down a Windra
while others took turns committing rape. That the accused threw
the victims out of the moving bus, shared the items
they had stolen from the victims, destroyed evidence thoroughly showing
(35:26):
a legal agreement between them to commit such legal acts,
and they had knowledge of the same. They were convicted
of criminal conspiracy, abduction with the attention to force the
victim into illicit intercourse, gang rape, committing unnatural offenses, murder, dakoity,
and attempted murder for the attack on a windra. All
(35:49):
four men were found guilty and sentenced to death. In
twenty fifteen, Mohammed, the juvenile at the time of the attack,
was released. It's been said that his actions were the
most heinous and what ultimately led to Jiotes's death. He's
reportedly changed his name. The four remaining men filed appeals
(36:12):
to have reduced sentences from death to life in prison.
They lost all of their appeals, and so early on
the morning of Friday, March twentieth, twenty twenty, all four
men were hanged outside of the jail. People celebrated, and
Jiotes's parents said they felt faith that justice had been restored.
(36:33):
How do you make sense of a case like this?
How do you go about understanding the why behind this
level of violence, this level of disregard of other human beings,
the complete hatred for women, and the inability to see
how someone has any accountability for their acts. It's true
(36:53):
that poverty, lack of education, and a patriarchal society contribute
heavily to the kind of violence, but the severe and
disturbing degree of the violence inflicted that night cannot be
excused with just a wave of well, that's poverty for you.
There's something else at play. When Gioti's friend of Windra
(37:14):
was later asked about the assault, he said that oppressors
think they can get away with being violent, and the
more they get away with it and there are no punishments,
the more they do it. When asked what failures contributed
to the brutal attack, he responded with this, Public transportation
in many parts of India is not safe and makes
(37:37):
people vulnerable. The police response to the attack, as he
and Cooti lie on the side of the road, was
delayed and inadequate. A Windra believed that more female officers
should be staffed to assist female victims of violent crime.
The onlookers, the lack of help received by the people
that were morbidly curious about the injured but didn't offer help,
(38:02):
the hospital where a Windra was still waiting naked two
hours after his arrival, And finally, society which compels victims
to hide and where women are scared to report rape
for fear of shame and at a fear of the repercussions,
often meaning more violence. Canadian Indian director Deepa Meta made
(38:26):
the documentary Anatomy of Violence, which goes into the social
conditions in Indian society, the lack of sexual education. She
says that the murder of Goti was what woke up
the country of India and sparked an overdue conversation about rape.
She said, quote, rich people rape. It knows no class,
(38:47):
it knows no geographic boundaries. It is based on patriarchy, power, misogyny,
how we bring up our kids. And it's the lack
of equality that's something we need to talk of. India
has opened hundreds of Narbaia Centers for women all across
the country, rape crisis centers named for the fearless Jotes Singh.
(39:13):
These centers will provide services to women who are survivors
of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence and will render
medical aid and support, legal assistance and other resources. Thanks
for sticking with me through this very difficult episode. It's
nearly impossible to understand how human beings can do this
(39:33):
to other human beings. As Gooti's dad put it, to
call them human is to give humanity a bad name
if we call them monsters. Even monsters have some limits.
These are totally the devil. Jyoti's mom now works with
others who are survivors of misogynistic violence.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
She and her husband.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Continue to talk about how proud they are of their daughter. Doctor.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Method and Madness.
Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and leave a
rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. To connect, I'm on
Twitter at Methodpod and on Instagram at Method and Madness
(40:16):
Pod to chat, suggest a case, or discuss the episode.
Reach out to me at Method and Madness Pod at
gmail dot com. Method and Madness is researched, written and
hosted by me. It is edited by Mowen Spoe. That's
it for this week. Until next time, take care of yourself.
For crisis support, text Hello to seven four one seven
(40:40):
for one
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.