Friend of Delhi rape victim gives first account of attack

A demonstrator shouts at police officers as she takes part in a demonstration to mourn the death of the rape victim

A friend of the young medical student who was gang raped on a bus in Delhi has made an emotional plea to Indian citizens to help victims of violent crime.

In his first media interview since the attack on December 16, he describes how the attackers beat him and his companion with an iron rod before throwing them off the bus, and how no-one stopped to help after they were abandoned on the curbside.

"We tried to stop people passing by. Several auto rickshaws, cars and bikes slowed down but no one stopped for about 25 minutes," he told India's Zee News.

He also criticised the police for taking two hours to call an ambulance and for failing to offer either victim - both of whom had been stripped by their attackers - any clothes.

"If you can help someone, help them. If a single person had helped me that night, things would have been different," he said.

"I never had thoughts of leaving her and running away. Even an animal would not do that ... [But] I do think sometimes about why I didn't get an auto, why did I take that bus."