The gang-rape of a young girl in a moving bus in a busy area of Delhi on the evening of December 16, 2012, had shocked not only Indians but had the world raise concerns about the security of Indian women.

This gang-rape and a series of other incidents of rapes in Delhi (which earned Delhi the infamous title 'Rape Capital of India') shattered many myths around claims that Indians worship women, non-violence is the creed of Indians and that a woman is deemed to be Lakshmi or goddess of wealth.

The reaction of the Hindutva camp was on expected lines. The semi-illiterate (a status worse than being illiterate) chief of RSS Mohan Bhagwat had declared that “crimes against women happening in urban India are shameful. It is a dangerous trend but such crimes would not happen in Bharat or rural areas of the country...where women are treated as mother”.

Another prominent RSS ideologue Kailash Vijayvargiya had then held rape victims responsible for inviting rapes as women were crossing the “Laxman Rekha”. The then international advisor of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Ashok Singhal held adoption of “western model” responsible for the rapes.

The present rape storm in India not only shows the hollowness of the claims of the Hindutva ideologues but also unashamed culpability of the individuals and organisations connected with the Hindutva ideology.

The three rape cases which have shamed India took place in rural India and the perpetrators in all cases are related to the Hindutva organisations.