Every few years, it seems, a case of sexual assault fills India with outrage because of its sheer barbarity.

In December 2012, in one of the most notorious, a 23-year-old student was beaten and gang-raped on a moving bus in the capital New Delhi and later died of her injuries. 

Some legal reforms were hastily drafted at that time,  but not much has changed. 

Fast forward seven years and the country is being tormented by the rape and killing of a 27-year-old veterinarian in the city of Hyderabad. To add to the sense of a country in crisis amid nationwide protests, police on Friday shot dead four suspects.

The sensational nature of the case wasn't lost on gender equality specialist Shruti Kapoor, who fretted about the "selective outrage" that is fueling the heated public debate on sexual assault in India.

"We are talking about this now because there was a woman, a middle-class woman who was brutally raped and murdered and then those four men were killed extrajudicially by the police," she told The Heat, CGTN's discussion program.

Kapoor, the founder of Sayfty which focuses on educating and empowering women and girls in India to protect themselves from violence, was clearly referring to the fact that dozens of rapes are reported each day in India with little publicity attached to them.

Social stigma attached to rape

The country has gained a reputation for being one of the worst places in the world to be female. 

More than 32,500 cases of rape were registered with police in 2017, about 90 a day, according to the most recent government data.

Indian courts disposed of only about 18,300 cases related to rape that year, leaving more than 127,800 cases unresolved, Reuters reported.

It is common knowledge that many more go unreported because of the social stigma attached to victims.  

"Women don't come forward to report because there is a popular culture of victim shaming," actress and campaigner Richa Chadha told the program. 

She said questions were often asked as to "why was the girl out so late, what was she wearing."

And when complainants actually try to file reports, they are often greeted with disrespect by police who often try to persuade them to drop the cases, as well as apathy in the slothful judicial system.

"I believe that the anger and frustration that we are seeing after each or every gang rape case is a testimonial to the fact that the people are frustrated, they are angry, they are fed up of these rape cases and they are unable to find quick solutions or even justice," said Noopur Tiwari, founder of "Smashboard," a new feminist social network for survivors of sexual and sexist violence. 

Child-rearing 'needs to change'

Priyali Sur, a gender specialist and documentary filmmaker, called for those in authority like the police and the political directorate to be made to pay for their inaction on the issue.

"We are tired of lip service, we want to see action, and, ultimately, the government of India, of which many parliamentarians are themselves accused of sexual violence and are misogynistic, they have to be the ones taking action and be accountable," she said.

In addition to reforms to how the country handles rape cases, Chadha wants to see changes in how Indians raise their children. "Violence against girls start in the home," she said. "We have a high rate of female feticide and from then on girls drop out of school, often (because) parents are afraid they will be molested, raped on the way in remote areas and so on."

Panelists noted that last week's killing of the four suspects by police has been applauded by many in the country, but they warned against such summary justice.

"This kind of justice will not fix the root cause of the problem," Kapoor said.  

The Heat, a news talk program on CGTN hosted by Anand Naidoo, is heard Monday to Saturday at 2300 and 0630 GMT.