Outcry is continuing in India over the gang rape and beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi. The woman was hospitalized and remains in critical condition after the attack Sunday night. On Wednesday, police used used water canons against protesters who condemned the violence. Police say a group of six men raped the woman and beat both her and a male friend with iron rods while driving through the city, reportedly passing through several police checkpoints. Both victims were stripped and dumped by the side of the road. Police say five men have been arrested. Indian women’s rights activist Ranjana Kumari said rapists in India often escape punishment.

Ranjana Kumari: “Under the current laws, rapists are not being prosecuted the way they should be. Almost 40,000 rape cases are pending in various courts across the country. In 2003, there was an instance of rape whose judgment has come now in 2012 after a gap of nine years. If it takes nine years for justice to be delivered, do you think culprits would be afraid to commit such heinous crimes? It is important to put a system in place to deal with such cases. We also demand to expedite the trial of crime against women in fast-track courts.”

Amid the mounting protests, officials in India have reported at least two more gang rapes. In two separate incidents, a 10-year-old girl was gang-raped and murdered and a 14-year-old was in critical condition after being raped by a group of men. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is raped every 20 minutes in India.