It began quickly, after the news of the Hyderabad veterinary doctor's rape and murder became known. The spitting contempt in social media posts about 'lumpen elements', and 'unemployed animals'. Words people use to distance themselves from an act, instead of expressing concern as a society at a violence that has occurred. Then, Members of Parliament said rapists should be lynched in public—law makers essentially disregarding the process of law. In barely a few hours, Twitter showed me that #RapistJalao was trending at 5,000 plus tweets, and lower down, at 1,800 #HyderabadVet—a digital rendition of how, when it comes to sexual violence, women themselves quickly recede in the face of vigilante fantasies cooked in a patriarchal pot with class and caste prejudice.

The fantasy became real with frightening speed. The four accused were killed in an 'encounter', because apparently the only way to prevent four unarmed men from escaping is to shoot them dead. The police were quick on the draw, eh? Quite unlike their inertia and buck-passing when the victim's sister was fobbed off with jurisdiction excuses at various police stations. Not so quick to call their colleagues in the right jurisdiction to ensure speedy help. Apparently, guns are faster than mobile technology, in Cyberabad.