Kidding, if that wasn't absurdly obvious. Great story.

Oppression against girls and women in India is still by far the norm. But maybe stories like this will encourage other Indian families to invest in education, not dowries, for their female children.

(I live in Mumbai and do NGO work on the gender gap in education; you probably don't want the dissertation I have on this question...)

So, to keep it short, yes, I so hope that too.

The whole time we were there nothing was talked about except violence against girls and women in India. The problem is truly epidemic.

The flip side is Indians prize education very, very highly. Of my four aunts, three have PhDs and two have published core texts that are used in their field even in the US. They got their degrees in the 60s so this is not new. Arguably, they are upper class, but just pointing out that it is not quite as black and white as in some cultures. There are plenty of women who are doctors and lawyers in India. Being intelligent and well-educated still counts there.

Thanks for the article!

And yes, I have encountered many highly educated, professional women from India. The issue is the poor, as usual. It was so heartwarming to read the story of a brilliant, but poor child who has support from her family to pursue an education.

I had never encountered that kind of astonishing poverty until we went to India. And certainly, the caste system is to blame for so many issues. But I do see India making gains I never thought I would see in my lifetime--including proportional representation of women in government which the US does not have. I was also very surprised at the reaction to the rapes, with women marching in the streets for their rights and men supporting that. I do believe women are making great strides and will find their voice.

India is a huge country with lots of people and a very old culture for baggage. It is very interesting to watch it come into the modern era. I do believe because India is more secular, and because there aren't particular religious doctrines against women, that women will improve in equality far more quickly than other nations. China is a good example.

I believe the same would happen in the US if women could unite behind their common cause. But so many have been captured by a religious message or distracted by the marketing of what it means to be a woman, which is the plan, of course. Sigh...

But I was not expecting to learn about all the violence against women. Gang rape is practically a national sport there. For instance, we learned that female students routinely hold hands when leaving class, so that if a gang of men tries to pull one of them into a car, the other can pull her friend in the opposite direction. I could go on and on.

In many ways I loved India, but my experience was very tainted by all the events surrounding that Delhi gang rape and murder. I was very impressed, though, at the outrage and subsequent protests against the violence by both women and men.

Thank God we don't have to deal with that misogynist creep!