NEW DELHI: The doctors, who were part of the medical team attending to the December 16 gang rape victim, told a fast-track court here on Friday that the girl was shifted to a Singapore hospital to provide her with best possible treatment and not because she had died as alleged by the accused.

The doctors' response came on the allegation by defence counsel of two accused in the case that the victim was not shifted to Singapore for organ organ transplant or best possible medical care but because she had died and the government did not want the public to know it.

Counsel for accused Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur made this suggestion while cross-examining two prosecution witnesses, who were part of the medical team of Safdarjung Hospital where the 23-year-old girl was initially treated.

The girl was allegedly gang-raped by the two accused and four others in a moving bus here. She had later died in a Singapore hospital on December 29, last year.

Advocates Vivek Sharma and A P Singh alleged that the girl had died here in India due to the medical negligence of the doctors who were attending to her.

The witnesses, however, denied the allegations and said the girl was moved to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore to provide her with the best possible treatment as the same was not possible here in India.

"It is wrong to suggest that the victim had allegedly died in India due to the alleged negligence of the team of doctors treating her. It is wrong to suggest that the victim's dead body was transported outside India, because of public agitation and pressure...," the witnesses told the court of additional sessions judge Yogesh Khanna.

The defence lawyers contended there was no reason to shift the girl outside India, "especially for best possible treatment", as such a specialised treatment was available in various Indian hospitals, including AIIMS, Medanta and Sir Ganga Ram.

