Gang rape persists in India despite greater awareness of women's rights
Gang rape persists in India despite media attention, greater awareness of women's rights and the threat of capital punishment
The chauffeur's boss was out of town, so the driver called a friend and said "let's have some fun" - which police say meant finding a woman to rape.
Hopping into a luxury car, the two soon spotted their victim - a young software engineer leaving a shopping mall. They lured her into the car by pretending it was a taxi, police said, took her to a remote spot and raped her with such ferocity that she bled.
Much has changed in India since the December night last year when another young woman was fatally gang-raped and murdered in New Delhi, a case that shocked the country and sparked protests against abuse. Parliament passed stricter laws on rape and sexual harassment. Police have become more sympathetic to women. Help lines have been flooded with calls.
Unless the mentality changes, this is not going to go away
But rapes by gangs of young men have continued with a disturbing frequency, even though the men convicted in the New Delhi case were sentenced to death by hanging. The reasons behind it are wide-ranging, from rising economic inequality to an inefficient judicial system.
But one thing is clear: there is still a widespread sense of impunity among aggressors.
The two Hyderabad men admitted having sex with the woman but showed little remorse, police said.
"I said, 'Are you not scared?'" said C.V. Anand, police chief of the Cyberabad region, a district that rings the central city. "They said, 'We never felt we would get caught. She would not say anything. Indian women can't come out about such things.'"
Just as Anand was giving his interview, TV news flashed photos of another gang rape nearby - a teenage girl had been held captive by two older youths and assaulted repeatedly for 10 days. High-profile attacks have occurred in other cities, including Mumbai and Bangalore, as well as in rural states.