‘Rahul Gandhi helped my son become a pilot,’ says 2012 Delhi gangrape victim Jyoti Singh's mother

The mother of Jyoti Singh, the victim of the 16 December 2012 Delhi gangrape, has thanked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for helping her son to became a commercial pilot, according to media reports. [caption id=“attachment_4189425” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] “My son is a pilot now because of Rahul Gandhi. He was the one who counselled him and motivated him to achieve something good in life to support the family”, said Asha Devi, Jyoti’s mother, according to India Today. The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was raped and brutally sexually assaulted by six people, including a minor, in a moving bus in Delhi. The accused then threw the woman and her male companion out of the vehicle by the roadside on the cold December night. The woman died of grave intestinal injuries on 29 December, 2012 at a Singapore hospital, where she was airlifted for specialised treatment. According to News Nation, her brother was in trauma after the incident and it was Congress vice-president who helped him out of stress. His brother after completing his schooling in 2013, got admission in Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi in Rae Bareli, also the parliamentary constituency of Sonia Gandhi, the report added. ‘Rahul Gandhi was the one who counselled him and motivated him to achieve something good in life to support the family. After learning that he wanted to join the defence forces, Rahul asked him to pursue a pilot’s training course after completing his school", said Asha, according to Daily Mail. During his 18-month pilot training course, Gandhi used to talk to him over the phone and taught him to adopt a ’never quit’ attitude, Outlook reported. Not only Rahul, but his sister Priyanka Gandhi too used to call him over phone and used to inquire about his health, the report added. Jyoti Singh’s brother is currently undergoing final training with a commercial airline in Gurugram. He will soon be flying a plane,  Times Now reported. The Supreme Court , earlier this year, upheld the death penalty for four convicts – Vinay Sharma (23), Akshay Thakur (31), Mukesh (29) and Pawan Gupta (22). Ram Singh, who was the prime accused, was found dead in his cell in Tihar Jail on 11 March 2013. The juvenile was directed to spend three years in a special home by the Juvenile Justice Board in 2013.