Iron-rod rape of Indian woman: Has anything changed for women in India?

A woman in India was found with her intestine “coming out from her private parts”, after she was allegedly raped by two men and brutalised with iron rods, local reports said.

The victim was returning home from a village fair on Saturday (Feb 17) night when she was dragged under a bridge by the suspects and raped.

The suspects also inserted iron rods into her private parts, a report said.

Has anything changed for women in India when it comes to brutal rape and abuse?

Sometime back, the brutal rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi shocked the world. The victim, who became known as Nirbhaya (‘fearless’) succumbed to her injuries two weeks later, but not before giving testimonies against her attackers.

Her death provoked outrage and protests across India as people demanded dramatic improvements to women’s rights. But five years on, has anything really changed?

The video here revisits the city to ask women what they think.

In the West Bengal case, a passer-by found her unconscious under a bridge in south Dinajpur nearly 18 hours after the attack, the Hindustan Times reported.

The victim, which has been reported to be anywhere between 19 and 30 years old in local media, has undergone two surgeries and is responding well, the report said.

Two men, aged 45 and 50, have been arrested by police, according to the Mumbai Mirror.