Indian Police Detain 3 in Rape-Murder of Dalit Law Student

FILE - Women activists participate in a demonstration demanding highest punishment for convicted persons in the Kamduni rape case and the re-arrest of two acquitted persons near the city court in Kolkata, India, Jan. 29, 2016. Police detained three men for the rape and murder of a law student in southern state of Kerala, May 3, 2016.

Indian police have detained three men for the rape and murder of a law student in southern India, a case that echoes the deadly 2012 gang rape of a woman on a bus that sparked widespread protests across the country.

Police say the 30-year-old woman, from the Dalit caste, was found dead last Thursday at her home in Kerala state.

Authorities described the attack as particularly brutal and shocking. Reports say she was found lying in a pool of blood with her intestines hanging out.

Protesters held demonstrations calling for a quick trial Tuesday in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

The 2012 rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student on a bus in New Delhi led to an overhaul of the country's rape laws, doubling prison sentences, as well as criminalizing stalking and trafficking of women.

Some material for this report came from AP, AFP and Reuters.