Congress MP Rahul Gandhi today met the family of the nine-year-old Dalit girl allegedly raped and murdered in Delhi's Cantonment area on Sunday, and whose body was forcibly cremated by her attackers.

"I spoke with the family... they want justice and nothing else. They're saying justice is not being given to them and that they should be helped. We will do that. I said 'I am standing with you. Rahul Gandhi is standing with them until they get justice'," Rahul was quoted by news agency ANI.

Shortly afterwards he tweeted: "Her parents' tears are saying only one thing - their daughter, the daughter of this country, deserves justice. And I am with them on this path of justice."

Rahul tweeted yesterday too, calling her "the nation's daughter" - a pointed reference to accolades for India's women Olympians, who have been widely referred to as "the country's daughters" after their medal-winning exploits.

Public fury has exploded over the horrific incident - the latest to spotlight frighteningly high levels of sexual violence in the country - triggering protests by civil society groups and activists, as well as Opposition leaders who have targeted Home Minister Amit Shah (to whom Delhi Police reports).

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee are among those to have slammed Mr Shah and demand he be held to account for this and other gruesome crimes.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has called for improvements to the city's law and order situation, is also expected to meet the young girl's family, and has pledged to help seek justice.

"The murder of a nine-year-old innocent in Delhi, after subjecting her to brutality, is very shameful. There is a need to improve the law and order situation... the culprits should be given capital punishment at the earliest," Kejriwal tweeted.