SHAKTI STORIES

In December 2012, a 23-year-old medical student named Jyoti Singh Pandey was brutally gang raped in a wealthy South Delhi neighborhood. She died of her injuries in early 2013, and her case incited outrage at the prevalence of sexual violence in India. Since rape victim's names are not permitted to be revealed under Indian law, she went under the alias of Nirbhaya, or "brave soul". It was a watershed moment; people lined the streets, protesting the patriarchal "rape culture" and the inefficiency of law enforcement that led to this crisis. Following this case, the rape law was amended to include penetration of a woman's vagina of any kind. A Nirbhaya fund was set up to help support the cause of sexual violence. The issue of rape has been brought into the nation's consciousness permanently.