Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi looked after Nirbhaya's grieving family and helped them emotionally as well as monetarily, all without drawing attention to himself, said Nirbhaya's father.

Badrinath Singh, Nirbhaya's father, said many came to help the family initially after his daughter was assaulted and gang-raped in 2012, but "it was Gandhi who stood by us always and had strictly told us to keep it a secret", according to the news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS).


"The incident left a permanent scar but Gandhi came like an angel. Whatever the politics, he has been an angel to us," said Singh to IANS.


Nirbhaya, then 23, was raped and brutally assaulted on December 16, 2012. The assault was the cause of her death 13 days later.The Congress vice-president especially counseled Nirbhaya's brother, and even helped him become a pilot, said Singh.


He added that he has no interest in politics and his acknowledgement of the Congress leader's support has no political agenda.