All of the five men, employed as daily wage labourers, have been taken into judicial custody. (Photo: Image for representation)

A 32-year-old woman from Neyveli in Cuddalore was gangraped by five men on her way home after grocery shopping. One of the five accused was also killed after he got into a fight with the rest over an argument on turns to rape the victim.

The incident occurred when Shakti (name changed) was returning home along with her relative on a two-wheeler.

When her relative stopped the bike midway on a deserted road to relieve himself, the group of five men spotted Shakti standing along.

The culprits initially started passing comments and later pounced on her. While Shakti's relative tried to stop the men, he was beaten up and chased away.

The men then took Shakti to a secluded spot and brutally gangraped. In between, one of the gang members was killed in a fight amongst them over an argument on the turns to rape the woman.

After committing the crime, four men escaped from the spot abandoning the victim and their dead accomplice.

Shakti, who later gained consciousness, went to a nearby police station and registered a complaint. She was rushed for medical examination.

Based on the complaint, police identified four of the accused as S Karthik (23), M Satish Kumar (23), C Rajadurai (25) and A Sivabalan (22). The fifth man who was murdered during this incident was identified as M Prakash (26).

All of the five men, employed as daily wage labourers, have been taken into judicial custody.

Shakti, a widow with three young children, has vowed to bring her perpetrators to justice.

Shakti is just one among the many cases of crime against women reported in India on a daily basis.

The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report on crime against women, with data from 2017, showed an increase to a total of 3,59,849 reported cases in 2017, up from 3.38 lakh in 2016.

Meanwhile, the number of reported cases in 2015 was 3.2 lakh. The steady increase in the number of reported cases only reflects on how unsafe our society is becoming for women.