Under past Indian Supreme Court rulings, the death penalty is warranted for crimes committed in such "an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting, or dastardly manner so as to arouse intense and extreme indignation of the community."

A new law, resulting from national anger generated by this case, passed in March and allows judges to issue the death penalty to rape attacks that lead to the victim's death.

MNN discussed the case with Sarah Sparks from India Partners.

"It's very close to my heart because I've worked with abused women for 10 years," she explains.

"Rape has been called the national issue of India. Most women would think of abuse…as norm; that's how prevalent it is."

Statistics agree: though rapes are said to occur every 20 minutes in India, only 572 rapes were reported in 2011, according to India's National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB).

However, The Times of India reports 1,121 rape cases were registered in New Delhi during the first eight months of 2013. That's more than twice the amount of last year's figures over the same time period.

Why is the crime so common?

"I think part of it goes back to the fundamental worldviews," says Sparks. "It goes back to the very fundamental, core belief system within India."

Sparks grew up in India but describes her experience as "mixed."

"I have been given the privileges in life, unlike most women in India. But at the same time, I also heard a lot of this, 'Oh, [how] unfortunate for your father that you are a daughter' versus a son," explains Sparks.

"Daughters are usually treated as a liability, which is how I have been treated as well."

She's also experienced the degrading practices so common in the world's largest democracy. Sparks tells of harsh teasing, as well as being poked and prodded by men on public buses.

"It's a very awkward situation to be [in], where you are fighting for your own safety," she says.

Sparks' experiences are echoed in the words of her past patients: India's trafficked, raped, and domestically abused women and children.

"It's always viewed as the girl's fault," she explains.

The stigma and discrimination that come with sexual assault make it hard for victims to believe Christ's hope and love are real.

"Words such as love, liberation, acceptance are hard to believe for some of these women because they've never heard this vocabulary in their life," Sparks explains.

"There's a very exciting transformation I have seen in some women. But there are others that have completely shut off and said, 'No, it's not me. It cannot happen to someone like me.'"

There are glimmers of hope, though. Sparks brightens when she speaks about a girl named Na-Nee. She became one of the few to escape a dark and dismal reality facing most of India's young girls.

"She was abused, and also they were trying to take her into the sex trade," Sparks explains. "They were trying to traffic her, but that's when she ran away from home, and she came to the shelter."

That's when Sparks shared the life-changing Truth of Scripture with Na-Nee.

"It was a beautiful discussion that Na-Nee and I had; she gave her life to the Lord," Sparks recounts.

Today, Na-Nee's life opposes a strongly-held view in Indian culture.

"No matter what happens to you, you don't leave your family," explains Sparks. "Women who are abused and who leave the family setting and come out to escape abuse: they're always seen as marginalized."

As a result, it's hard for women who escape abuse to find a husband.

"But in Na-Nee's case, God just has great plans for her life, and He just redeemed this girl."

"She completed her college; she's currently a mother, a wife," says Sparks proudly.

You can help India Partners save more girls here.

The 23-year-old Delhi rape case victim was studying physiotherapy, seemingly holding a future as bright as Na-Nee's. Many citizens and prosecutors have called for the death of perpetrators Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh, who squelched the victim's bright future last December. Most feel a harsh ruling in the case would "set an example" and help stem the tide of sexual assault crimes.

Sparks isn't sure.

"I would like to be positive and think it will change," she states. "But the core, fundamental belief that a 'woman is less' doesn't make it too hopeful. Because as long as that mindset, that worldview exists…it would be hard to see a change."

Regardless, your prayers are needed.

"For women to be able to stand up, education is necessary. Women need to be empowered; we need people that work with them, that encourage them," says Sparks.

"It's a very hopeless situation, so they need people that encourage and give hope, bring that message of hope to them."

Click here to help more of India's people learn to read and write through India Partners.

"Education…is significant because it transforms the thinking of women, where they have the ability to stand up for themselves," Sparks states. "That's another big area that I would ask [people] to pray for."

Above all else, pray for God's protection over the women of India. Pray that the Gospel will spread.

"That transformational message is necessary for the people of India," says Sparks. "As the message of God spreads in this nation, we could eventually see some of this abuse against women, the rate of it or the ratio of it, coming down."

Candle Light march on 22 Dec, 2012. (Image courtesy Soumyaroop Chatterjee via Flickr)

On December 16, 2012, a 23-year old physiotherapy student boarded a bus with her male friend after watching a movie at a New Delhi mall. That’s when their “ride of horror” began.

According to police, six men beat up the male friend and dragged the young woman to the back of the bus. As the bus drove around for an hour, these men took turns raping the woman and inserting a metal rod into her body. When finished, they dumped the pair onto the side of a road to die.

The woman’s injuries were so severe that some of her organs had to be removed. She died December 29, 2012 at a Singapore hospital.

“It’s a brutal case that’s brought a lot of attention to a big problem in India,” says CH Dyer, President and CEO of Bright Hope International.

Four of the six men suspected in this crime have been convicted and now await a sentence. Dyer says the case is opening eyes to a jarring reality.

“All these things have brought a great sensitivity to the topic and a desire for the courts and the police to do something about it,” states Dyer. “It’s something that everybody’s concerned about and there’s great awareness now, even with local cases.”

On January 4, the BBC’s Geeta Pandey revealed the commonality of horrific abuse against women in India.

“On most days, Indian newspapers report shocking new atrocities: a 10-month-old raped by a neighbor in Delhi; an 18-month-old raped and abandoned in the streets in Calcutta; a 14-year-old raped and murdered in a police station in Uttar Pradesh; a husband facilitating his own wife’s gang rape in Howrah,” she wrote.

“But in a country where a rape is reported every 21 minutes, even these most horrific of crimes soon get forgotten.”

Dyer says the tide has begun to turn.

“At first, we had resistance from authorities. We had a lot of people saying this can’t be done,” he states.

Now, officials are working alongside Bright Hope and more people are asking how they can help.

“People are starting to recognize it and not work against us, but work with us.”

And, abused women are gaining courage.

“There was a young girl who came forward and said, ‘My father’s been raping me, my brother’s been raping me’ and that caused national attention to come to her,” recalls Dyer. “She’s actually now in our safe house.”

Through Bright Hope’s Anti-Human Trafficking Program, lives are being saved.

“To see the hope; to hear about how they want to go on and be beauticians or airline stewardesses…it’s just a heart-warming touch of Christ’s love being practically woven into these young girls’ hearts,” says Dyer.

There’s an easy way to get involved.

“If right now, people could just pray; the girls in this house actually have been feeling just attacked, spiritually,” asks Dyer. You can also click on the link above to learn more about Bright Hope’s work.

Pray spiritual healing and protection for rescued girls. Ask the Lord to give them new visions for their future.

The four men convicted of this crime — Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh — range from 19 to 28 years old. Each hails from a poverty-ridden slum on the outskirts of New Delhi, and the public is calling for each man’s death as penalty.

According to CNN, Judge Yogesh Khanna said he would hand down his sentence tomorrow afternoon.

Pray for justice. Pray also for God’s will to be done.