Protests after death of India rape victim

Thousands of protestors gathered in central Delhi, demanding action to protect women, after a 24-year-old student was raped by a gang of men for about an hour in a bus there.

She was mutilated with a metal bar, thrown out of the moving vehicle, and has now died of her injuries in a hospital in Singapore.

Six men are under arrest.

The tragic case has focussed attention on the wider question of how women are treated in India.

Sonia Gandhi, president of the ruling Congress Party, said the case shows the need for change:

"It deepens our determination to battle the pervasive, the shameful social attitudes and mindset that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such impunity."

India's home affairs minister has pledged a swift response.

Officials have announced some new measures, including checks on bus drivers and the naming and shaming of convicted rapists.

But many protestors want more than that: higher protection for victims, and swifter justice for the many who allege rape but whose attackers never end up in court.

Listen to Alastair Wanklyn’s report: