A woman carries a placard during a protest over a rape-and-murder case in New Delhi, India, on Dec. 2, 2019. Indian lawmakers raised serious concerns in the Indian Parliament on Monday over last week's rape-and-murder case of a woman in India's southern city of Hyderabad. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

Indian police shot dead four men on Friday who were suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old vet near Hyderabad city, drawing applause from her family and hundreds of citizens outraged over sexual violence against women.

The men had been in police custody and were shot dead near the scene of last week's crime where they tried to snatch the weapons of accompanying policemen, police said.

Thousands of Indians have protested in several cities over the past week following the veterinarian's death, the latest in a series of ­horrific cases of sexual assault in the country.