More than 40,000 rapes are reported in India every year. With every rape case, there are calls for tougher laws, but that does not seem to have worked.

In the past, some rape cases got widespread media attention and prompted angry protests. Recently, a rape and murder crime led to the biggest demonstrations in years, with levels of anger and revulsion that India has not seen for a long time.

The little Muslim girl was just eight years old – she was kidnapped while grazing the family’s cattle, sedated heavily and kept hidden in a Hindu temple. She was raped multiple times and eventually murdered.

The suspects in her brutal rape and murder include police officers and a government official. The accused are all Hindu.

The ruling BJP party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused of trying to protect the men involved.

Is the prime minister stoking the flames of social and religious tensions?

Presenter: Peter Dobbie

Guests:

Pandit Ajay Gautam – founder of Hum Hindu, an organisation seeking to protect Hindus from “policies of minority appeasement”

Rana Ayyub – journalist covering Indian politics and social justice

Nikita Sud – associate professor of development studies at Oxford University

Source: Al Jazeera News