Rape victims and Karma

In the context of the recent Delhi gang rape case, a woman from India wrote to me asking “what take spirituality has on crimes such as these.  Does the victim suffer because of sanchit (past accumulated) karma?  Should one regard whatever happens as good?”  A few weeks  before this horrific Delhi incident, another woman had asked on a mailing list: “There are lots of places where Sri Aurobindo says that God is in evil too. I cannot see this when I think of someone being raped or tortured or molested.   Can someone explain how this can be?”. Today, Huffington Post published a short piece by Dr. Deepak Sarma, professor of South Asian religions and philosophy at Case Western Reserve University, questioning what answer Karma can offer in response to such tragedies.   In light of all this discussion, these are some answers based on the model of Karma proposed by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.   I am not sure if I have satisfactory answers to these profound questions but I am going to try!