A 23-year-old woman gang-raped and killed in New Delhi, sparking national outrage, had humble roots and was fiercely ambitious in pursuing her studies and a medical career. She symbolized the best of young India and yet brought out its worst.
The name of the woman has been withheld in accordance with Indian laws, but in the days since she was assaulted on December 16, Indian newspapers have written about her background, her parents and her studies, painting a picture of a woman held up as a role model for local youngsters.
"Nirbhaya," which means fearless, as one of the Indian newspapers named her, came from a family who moved from one of the most undeveloped regions of India, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, to New Delhi in 1983, seeking a better life. Her father works as a loader with a private airline, and the family of five - "Nirbhaya," her parents and two younger brothers - lived in a tiny apartment in the capital.
Her father mortgaged a small plot of land in their ancestral village to fund his daughter's ambition to become a physiotherapist.
It is unusual still for parents from rural India, if not urban ones, to make such sacrifices for their daughters' education.
But her father in his first interviews since the crime said no hurdle would stop his daughter from pursuing what she wanted.
She wanted to be a doctor since "she began playing with dolls," he said in an interview with the BBC.
"I told her repeatedly that I could not fund her education, but she did not budge," he said, a determination that was echoed by one of her brothers, who told the BBC, "She studied day and night," and pushed her siblings to study hard as well.
"Nirbhaya" was a top student and a star in the lower middle class neighbourhood where she lived.
Look at her, learn from her and aspire to be like her is what parents in her neighbourhood kept telling their children, The Sunday Express newspaper reported.
"The entire neighbourhood was proud of her," a childhood friend and neighbour was quoted as saying. "She was the only person who was studying medicine here."
She died Saturday after nearly two weeks of surgeries and treatment in a New Delhi and Singapore hospital. Her assault sparked national outrage and daily protests as well as a debate about the treatment of women in India.
"Nirbhaya" and her parents were among the millions of middle class Indians who believe education is a path to a better future.
"She wanted to ensure that she studied well, stood on her own feet and made it big in life so she could ensure a better future for her family," her friend told The Sunday Express.
"Nirbhaya" studied at an institute in the hill town of Dehradun, 235 kilometres north of New Delhi. Her final results were expected soon. The Sunday Express quoted the institute's director as saying she was a good student.
To support her family and her own education, "Nirbhaya" tutored younger children, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
She was a mentor and teacher for her brothers as well. "She was free-willed and very independent," her 20-year-old brother said.
And "Nirbhaya," true to the name that the media have given her, was courageous. "While she was admitted in hospital, she told me she fought back as hard as she could," her brother was quoted as saying by The Sunday Express. "She was defending herself by beating and biting them."
Police investigating the case have said she tried to stop her attackers, who also assaulted a male friend who hopped on the bus with her on their way home from a movie. He survived and played a crucial role in identifying the suspects.
"They left this village for a better life," the rape victim''s 80-year-old grandmother was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times. "Look what they got."