New Delhi, Sept. 30 -- After almost every major episode of violence in India, we witness a familiar cycle. There is shock, followed by protest, television debates, political statements, and an enormous volume of discussion on social media. For a few days, sometimes weeks, the country appears consumed by the question of justice. Then public attention moves elsewhere.

I remember the outrage after the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August 2024. The protests were not simply about one crime; they reflected a much wider anxiety about whether an individual could expect safety inside an institution that was itself supposed to provide care.

Two years later, however, the m...