While the US is dealing with the aftermath of the Newtown murders, half way around the world in Delhi, India, another violent attack on a woman has taken place.  This time, a woman and her companion were attacked on a bus.  The woman was gang raped by as many as four men.  The specifics of this case involve a man and his female companion, reportedly a medical student, who boarded a private bus following a movie.  Apparently there was an altercation and they were beaten with an iron rod.  After four of the men raped the woman, they were thrown off the bus.  Four of the attackers, including the bus driver have been arrested and the government has called for a series of measures to improve the safety for women in the capital.  These types of attacks in Delhi have caused the capital city to be referred to as the “rape capital” of India.  On Tuesday night, the chief of the ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, visited the hospital where the student is being treated and said, the “strictest possible measures should be taken to prevent such incidents”.  In response to this horrific attack, angry protesters, mostly college students, took to the streets demanding the government to act.  Many of the protesters who were also outside parliament and at police headquarter as well, carried banners saying “We want equal rights for women.”  These types of attacks have become all too common around the world and are indicative of countries that don’t respect the rights of women.  If women are treated as second class citizens, raping them can be considered acceptable, particularly in countries of the middle east and India where there are strict divisions based on sex.  As I have previously written, rape needs to be punishable by death.  That might deter at least some of these incidents.  Until now, men convicted of such heinous crimes have received barely a slap on the wrist, confirming the lack of importance and value placed on women.