A woman who survived a gang rape in Haryana, northern India, was released from the hospital a week after the harrowing attack, according to a police official who spoke to the BBC.
The 26-year-old mother of two was rushed to a hospital in Faridabad on the morning of December 30th, suffering from severe head and facial injuries as well as multiple fractures.
Her sister explained that the victim had been visiting a friend and was waiting for transportation shortly after midnight when two men in an ambulance offered her a ride. Instead of taking her where she needed to go, they drove her to an isolated area, where they assaulted her before throwing her out of the vehicle while it was still moving.
A police spokesperson confirmed that authorities acted quickly, arresting the two men and confiscating the ambulance involved in the crime.
After undergoing medical treatment and surgeries, the woman was discharged from the hospital late on Monday night.
Senior police official Mukesh Kumar told the BBC that they have approached the court to allow her to visit the prison for an "identification parade".
Once the court order comes, she would be asked to pick out the two suspects from a crowd of men.
The police said the crime took place on the intervening night of 29th and 30th December.
"The incident took place between 12.30 and 02:00. One stood outside the van and kept an eye on the surroundings while the other raped the woman inside the van," Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said.
Once the court order comes, she would be asked to pick out the two suspects from a crowd of men.
Police had questioned the suspects, who were later produced in court and sent to prison, he added.
A doctor at the hospital where the survivor was treated had said that the woman was brought in "at around 05:30 on 30 December... she had a lot of injuries".
Shalini Chopra, a social worker and an opposition politician, who spoke to the survivor after she was discharged from the hospital told the BBC that the woman was "better but still in pain".
The case has provoked anger and outrage in India and drawn comparisons with the horrific gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in Delhi in December 2012.
That crime had made global headlines, led to huge protests in Delhi and several other cities and forced the government to introduce tough new anti-rape laws that included the death penalty for the most gruesome attacks.
Four men convicted of the gang-rape and murder were hanged in 2020. One of the rapists died in prison while a juvenile was freed after spending time in a reform centre.
But despite the heightened scrutiny of sexual crimes since then, tens of thousands of rapes and sexual assaults continue to be reported every year.
According to latest police records, 29,670 rapes and 2,796 attempted rapes were reported in 2023. In addition, police also recorded 849 cases of child rapes and 94 cases of attempted rapes of children.