A top Indian rights group has launched an investigation into the police shooting of four rape-murder suspects after accusations they were gunned down in cold blood to assuage public anger.
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However, in a country where violence against women is rife and an overburdened criminal justice system means attackers often escape punishment, many Indians also celebrated the suspects' deaths.
The launch of the investigation by the National Human Rights Commission comes as India also reeled from the death of another woman on Friday, set on fire on her way to a sexual assault court hearing in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The gang-rape and murder of the 27-year-old vet last week outside the southern tech capital of Hyderabad had prompted nationwide protests and calls for swift and tough justice, with one lawmaker calling for them to be "lynched".
Police said that they shot the four suspects, who had been in custody for a week, early Friday after they snatched officers' guns during a night-time re-enactment at the crime scene organised by detectives.
Their deaths were met with celebrations, with hundreds heading to the scene and showering officers with flower petals, as politicians, celebrities and sports stars congratulated police on social media.
However, others expressed horror, with one Supreme Court lawyer calling it "murder in cold blood" and Amnesty International saying the "alleged extrajudicial execution" should be investigated.
Police are often accused of using extrajudicial killings to bypass the legal process to cover-up botched investigations or to pacify public anger.
More than 33,000 rapes were reported in India in 2017, according to the latest government figures, but vast numbers go unreported, experts say.
At the same time, a huge backlog of cases that many victims wait years for their attackers to be convicted, and that many perpetrators escape justice.
