On December 6, 2012, after going to the cinema, Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old medical student, and a male friend boarded a private bus in Delhi.  The man was beaten by six men who then raped and tortured Jyoti. They threw their bloody bodies off the bus and returned home. She died 13 days later. After the crime was revealed, Delhi saw a month of daily demonstrations. Jyoti‘s death sparked unprecedented protests and riots throughout India and the world.
India’s daughter pays tribute to a remarkable young woman who, born in an impoverished family, did her best to become a doctor and help her fellow human beings. Director Leslee Udwin reconstructs the crime and offers interviews with the victim's parents, one of the convicted rapists, a defense attorney, and other commentators on the rape, including some who participated in the Verma Report, a government document dealing with gender violence. Going beyond the facts, the film points to India’s patriarchal culture, which has led to widespread prejudices and a culture of rape. What hope can there be for the remaining daughters of India in a country where the attorney for the defense team stated in an interview that women should not leave home unaccompanied, and if his own daughter did that, he would burn her alive?