And who demands Rajasthan women's commission's apology for this rape tourism?

In a rather shameful turn of events, an image of a member of Rajasthan State Commission for Women clicking selfies with a rape victim has gone viral on social media.

The photograph shows Somya Gurjar, a member of the state's women's commission, clicking a selfie while the chairperson, Suman Sharma is also looking into the frame. The uproar over social media has led to the chairperson to seek a written response from Gurjar.

"I was talking to the victim when the member of the commission clicked these selfies. I am not aware when she (Somya Gurjar) clicked. I do not favour such act and has sought a written explanation from her. She has been asked to submit the explanation by tomorrow," Sharma has told PTI.

Outrage on Twitter was instantaneous which unequivocally condemned the incident, easily a disgusting display of what can only be called an instance of "rape tourism".

Both the officials had apparently gone to meet the victim at the Mahila police station. The victim is a 30-year-old woman from Alwar who was allegedly raped by her husband and two brothers-in-law. The husband and his brothers have tattooed expletives on her arm and forehead for not giving Rs 51,000 as dowry.

Recently, Salman Khan found himself embroiled in controversy after he compared training for his upcoming movie Sultan to being raped. Salman said that he felt "like a raped woman" after his gruelling training sessions while shooting for the film. As the social media erupted in rage in the wake of Salman's comment leading to the National Commission of Women summoning Salman over the same, the issue of rape culture and trivialisation of rape was raked up once again.

Also read: How to joke about rape like Salman Khan and get away

Although an apology from Salman is still awaited, the latest selfie controversy gives a fresh twist to how rape and rape victims are literally used and abused for personal point-scoring, taking home moral brownie points, and now, even more shamefully, being reduced to a mere prop for self-indulgence.

After Pankaja Munde's "drought selfie" and Soumya Gurjar's "rape victim selfie", the absolute lack of sympathy among the privileged for the systematically marginalised and oppressed comes once again into sharp focus. Gross negligence and appalling trivialisation of such a horrifying sexual crime, that too about three and half years since the Nirbhaya incident jolted our collective conscience, is hard to believe.

Also read: When Salman Khan’s fans sent me rape threats

There is an urgent need to pay attention on the way authorities and public figures address the issue of rape in India.

The statistics available on National Crime Records Bureau's website shows that there has been 9.2 per cent rise in rape cases from 2013 to 2014. A total of 36,735 rape cases were reported in 2014. The shocking figures are a clear indication of the ever deterioriating plight of women in this country.