The victim of the New Delhi bus rape apologised to her friend who was beaten in the same attack, as she lay in intensive care
The 23-year-old student suffered horrific internal injuries in the gang-rapè on December 16 and died 13 days later.
The attack, in which her male friend was badly beaten with an iron bar, sparked mass protests on the streets of India and calls for greater protection of women and children.
Last week, her 28-year-old companion described how the student said sorry for wanting to return home from their cinema trip. She said if she had stayed out later they would have been spared.
The man, a software engineer, said after leaving the cinema they stopped to look at some Christmas decorations but she wanted to leave after getting a call from her mother.
He told The Sunday Times: 'She said this [attack] would not have happened if we had stayed.'
However, he said he blames himself for not being able to save his friend.
'I said that I was the one who felt guilty and that I would probably feel guilty about not being able to save her for my whole life,' he said.
Although they were not a couple, the software engineer said he loved her as 'more than friends' but said they were not lovers.
Both belonged to different castes - he the Brahmin caste and she the agrarian Kurmi caste - but he said he was planning to convince his parents that they should get married.
The couple last saw one another on Christmas Day but tubes in her mouth prevented her speaking.
Four days later she died at a hospital in Singapore. He said he was unable to comprehend the news when he saw it in the media. Last week, he gave evidence at the trial of five men accused of rapè, kidnap and murder.
He later described to the newspaper the events that led to the fatal attack. The student rang her friend to ask him to the cinema and they watched Life of Pi in 3D.
She told him how happy she was that day, he said. When they left they could not find an auto rickshaw and a passenger urged them to ride a bus - but it was a trap he still has trouble comprehending.
Six men on board asked why they were out together so late. They then beat the engineer with an iron bar and brutally rapèd and beat the student.
He still walks with a limp. The engineer said he heard her cries for help but could not move because of his injuries.
He told the Sunday Times: 'That voice is always playing in my mind.'
His faith in humanity was shaken even further as after being thrown onto the street, drivers slowed to look at the bloodied couple but did not try to help.
They were eventually spotted by a patrol vehicle and admitted to hospital.
Within days six men had been arrested and thousands of residents - mostly women - hold candlelit vigils denouncing the rapè.
Protests took a more violent turn as demonstrators clashes with police.
In the 13 days after the attack, her condition worsened and despite being flown to Singapore for treatment she died on December 29.
Five men accused of the brutal rape and killing of the woman have pleaded not guilty at court. A sixth defendant will be tried in a youth court.
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