Rape victim rejects marrying attacker

DELHI, India, May 4 (UPI) -- An Indian man proposed marrying the woman he was convicted of raping in Delhi, an idea she rejected as "audacious" and "horrible."

Given the stigma of rape in India, the man said he made the offer to the hospital co-worker he was convicted of raping in September 2003 because he knew no one else would marry the 22-year-old, the BBC reported.

The man also hoped to lessen his sentence.

However, the woman flatly refused the in-court marriage proposal.

"I will not marry him. It is horrible, audacious," the woman said. "He should be hanged so that such a horrendous act is not repeated with any other girl."

In addition to the sexual assault, the victim suffered a gouged eye and facial scarring, for which she has undergone surgery four times.

Women's rights groups objected to the judge allowing the rapist to make the proposal, a conviction the man's lawyer said he will appeal.