India gang rape: Progress one year on?

We ask if the 2012 rape and murder of a New Delhi student changed attitudes in a land that has long favoured its sons.



The first anniversary of a fatal gang rape in India has been stirring fresh debate on women's rights.

The savage sexual assault in December 2012 shook the nation, and the world, setting in motion nationwide protests and much soul-searching about attitudes towards women.

The 23-year-old victim suffered appalling injuries at the hands of six men, after being attacked on a bus while travelling home with a friend.


She died 13 days after her terrifying ordeal in India's capital, New Delhi. Prosecutors said it was an assault that shocked India's collective conscience. Women's groups spoke out about what they called a rape epidemic, and a widespread sense of impunity, in the country.

Four of those convicted were later sentenced to death by hanging.

The government has since passed tough new laws, carrying a minimum 20-year sentence for rape, and making stalking, voyeurism and sexual harassment a crime.