Human Rights Watch called on the Indian government on Sunday to ban the "undignified" treatment of rape victims who are often subjected to degrading examinations by doctors.

The New York-based rights group highlighted the continuing use of the so-called "finger test" in India in which a doctor tests the laxity of a victim's vagina, apparently to determine if she is "habituated to sexual intercourse".

The body of a woman who died after being gang-raped and beaten on a bus in India's capital was cremated Sunday amid an outpouring of anger and grief by millions across the country demanding greater protection for women from sexual violence.

The young woman's body was cremated in a private ceremony in New Delhi soon after it arrived in the capital on a special Air India flight from Singapore, where the woman died at a hospital Saturday after being sent for medical treatment.

The body of a gang-rape victim was being flown back to New Delhi on Sunday after her death from sickening injuries in a Singapore hospital triggered a mass outpouring of grief and anger in India.

The plane carrying the 23-year-old medical student's body and her family set off from Singapore shortly after midnight (1600 GMT Saturday) and was expected to land before dawn in Delhi where thousands of people held a late-night candlelit vigil.

Indian leaders appealed for calm and security forces headed off fresh unrest by turning New Delhi into a fortress on Saturday after a student who was savagely gang-raped died in a Singapore hospital.

Police threw a ring of steel around the center of the Indian capital after news of the 23-year-old medical student's death was broken in the early hours by the Singapore hospital that had been treating her for the last two days.

An Indian gang-rape victim is showing signs of severe organ failure after taking a turn for the worse, the hospital treating her said Friday after medics criticized a decision to fly her to Singapore.

The 23-year-old was airlifted to Singapore Thursday after the attack on a bus in New Delhi on December 16, a crime which has prompted widespread street protests in India amid simmering anger at the level of violence against women.

Indian troops on Friday shot dead two suspected Islamic militants in Kashmir while seven civilians received police bullet injuries when they protested the slaying of the rebels, officials said.

The two militants belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba rebel group were killed while three troopers were wounded in a firefight with militants in Pulwama town, 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Kashmir summer capital Srinagar.

In the bar overlooking the twisting vines in India's answer to Napa Valley, a group of friends from Mumbai enjoy a weekend getaway -- and a chance to brush up on their new wine-drinking hobby.

"I've been teetotal all my life, but quite recently I started to drink wine. It's a growing trend," said 30-year-old housewife Jol Kapadia, sipping on a glass of Chenin Blanc at Sula Vineyards.

An Indian policeman who was injured in clashes during a protest over a gang-rape in New Delhi died on Tuesday, a police spokesman said.

The 47-year-old police constable, Subash Tomar, was deployed at the India Gate monument on Sunday to control the protests. He was beaten up by a mob and rushed to hospital by the police.

Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin, seeking to tighten defense ties with India and double trade within three years, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for talks on Monday.

Accompanied by several senior ministers and military officials, Putin was making a one-day trip to India, a traditional Russian ally which he had not visited since resuming the presidency in May.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for calm and vowed to protect women as police on Monday struggled to quell increasing outrage over sex crimes following the gang-rape of a student.

With large parts of central Delhi sealed off after a wave of violent protests, Singh said he understood the "genuine anger and anguish at this ghastly incident" a week ago but called for demonstrations to remain peaceful.