Indian authorities added murder charges Saturday for suspects in the brutal gang rape that led to the death of a 23-year-old woman and sent outraged protesters to the streets.
The suspects already faced rape charges.
Six people, including a minor and a bus driver, have been arrested in connection with the rape that occurred in New Delhi this month.
Throngs of protesters have taken to the streets for days, demanding more protection for women and punishment for those behind the assault.
Fearing massive protests following the death, police tightened security in the capital city of Delhi and barricaded some sites of previous rallies.
Reported rape cases in India -- where a cultural stigma keeps many victims from reporting the crime -- have increased drastically over the past four decades -- from 2,487 in 1971 to 24,206 in 2011, according to official figures.
New Delhi alone had 572 rapes reported last year and more than 600 in 2012.
One such recent case involved a girl, 17, who said she was gang-raped during the Hindu festival of Diwali on November 13. A formal case wasn't registered by police until 14 days later.
The girl committed suicide Wednesday by ingesting poison, according to authorities in the Patiala district of Punjab, in northern India.
In her suicide note, she blamed her alleged rapists. Three suspects -- including a female accomplice -- have been arrested.
Most women in India have stories of sexual harassment and abuse on public transportation, on the streets and elsewhere, said Seema Sirohi of the Indian Council on Global Relations.
"There are a lot of reasons why this happens, but the patriarchal system is one, a lack of policing is another and general treatment of women is not equal to men, even though it may be so under the law," Sirohi said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/29/world/asia/india-rape-victim/index.html?hpt=hp_t1