A physiotherapy student was raped and tortured by six men in a moving bus in New Delhi on December 16, 2012. Later the girl and a male friend who was accompanying her were both thrown off the bus by the rapists. The girl succumbed to her injuries on 29 December in a Singapore hospital. In a TV interview the male friend of victim said that three Police Control Room (PCR) vans had arrived at the scene after about 45 minutes and spent time in deciding the police station under whose jurisdiction the case would fall. Actions of the government to remedy the situation were positive, albeit goaded by an enraged citizenry. The unfortunate incident was the outcome of a complex interplay of contributing factors and accordingly the corrective measures were diverse and sought to address, organizational, legal, societal and host of other issues that had led to the situation. This article looks at some of the aspects of public safety in India.