Vigil as rape victim cremated

PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL

Protests and vigils like this in New Delhi were repeated across India on the day the body of a woman gang-raped aboard a bus was cremated.

The 23-year-old died nearly two weeks after the attack in the same city where these protesters now march to demand the death penalty for rape.

There were similar scenes in other major cities in India where the assault and subsequent death of the victim has caused shock and outrage.

In Kolkata these protesters urged men to join their campaign against sex crimes in a nation where women are largely viewed as inferior.

SOUNDBITE: PROTIMA PODDAR, PROTESTER, SAYING (English):

"We urge the male community as well as society in general to join our struggle and we're not against the males of the society because we're the persons who give birth to male persons so we're not against them but we are against this patriarchal society and this chauvinism."

Six men have been charged with murder following the death of the young medical student.

But these demonstrators in Bangalore say the national outpouring of anger is not about that single case.

SOUNDBITE: ANJALI, PROTESTER, SAYING (English):

"It's about everything that goes wrong against women. It's about child abuse, it's about domestic violence, it's about rape, it's about molestation, even teasing. And it's a very simple thing that we can do, both men and women, is that we need to raise our voices."

Many sex crimes in India go unreported, many offenders go unpunished, and the wheels of justic grind very slowly, according to activists.

They're hoping the rare nationwide debate ignited by the attack that's shocked the nation may finally yield results.