New Delhi:
Profound anger pulsed through India's streets on Wednesday, with protestors demanding an explanation from the government over why a young woman was gang-raped and hit with an iron rod for nearly an hour on a bus that moved seamlessly through multiple check points.
The bus had tinted windows and curtains, which is illegal in the capital. On board were six men attacking a medical student and her male friend. When they were done, they stripped the couple, pushed them from the bus onto the road, and took off to destroy the couple's clothing and wash away the blood that was splattered in the vehicle.
Union minister Krishna Tirath, who visited the victim's family in hospital, claimed that the student's parents want the rapists to hang.
"It's a heinous crime; very upsetting," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The unimaginably egregious attack has the public and parliamentarians demanding change- in laws, in the way that laws are implemented, and in the security offered to women in the capital.
The Delhi High Court grimly pulled up the Delhi Police, stating that people are losing faith in the police and judiciary. Congress President Sonia Gandhi has written to the Delhi chief minister and the Home Minister, describing the attack as a national shame for those in charge of protecting women.
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde outlined a new plan for improved safety today in Parliament that includes more police patrols in areas around malls and markets at night.
Of the six men accused of the gang-rape, four have been arrested and three of them have confessed in court today. "Hang me, I am guilty," said one, while another admitted to beating the woman's friend but said she had not been struck.
Two men have yet to be traced.