New Delhi rape exposes the perils of being a woman in India.

Bhavyaa Sharma feels vulnerable in the Indian capital.

The 19-year-old student at a leading women’s college in New Delhi fears for her safety when she leaves the campus. Sexual assaults on women in the city have horrified her and her female friends.

On Sunday, a 23-year-old woman was gang-raped and beaten to near death on a moving bus in New Delhi, police say. She is in intensive care at a city hospital, battling for her life.

The attack sparked furious protests across India, where official data show that rape cases have jumped almost 875% over the past 40 years — from 2,487 in 1971 to 24,206 in 2011.

New Delhi alone reported 572 rapes last year and more than 600 in 2012.

“I feel vulnerable here,” said Sharma, accompanied by her classmates. “I am very sure about it. Delhi is not safe for women.”

Sharma is from Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. She joined Miranda House, a women’s residential college in New Delhi, in 2010. She’s now close to graduation.

But her stay in the Indian capital hasn’t been without a bitter experience. She says she was groped while commuting in a bus in this city.

“It wasn’t traumatic. But I cannot forget it, either. Definitely, I cannot forget it,” Sharma said.

She called her parents back home that day, who tried to comfort her. Still, she couldn’t hold back her tears. “I cried the entire night,” she said.

View the full report here.