"We live in our individual cocoons of comfort and hope something drastic doesn't happen to us that will shatter our little worlds," Gen Singh, who took part in protests over the gang-rape incident, said.
"Today, a major part of our collective soul has died and our voices can only helplessly express our anguish at what not just this brave girl has gone through, but what each and every rape victim goes through in our land," he said in a statement.
Singh said physical rape is invariably followed by mental trauma unleashed "by a society and a system that is cold, callous and completely insensitive to the plight of countless victims".
"We are the people, and we have watched helplessly as the rot has set into every institution. In the greed for power and personal wealth, every rotten egg that has been laid by those who were entrusted with our Governance since independence is today hatching.
"Along with millions of my countrymen I can only extend my deepest condolences to the family of the victim and to the families of all the others who have suffered in silence," he said.
Gen Singh said, "We must cut across party lines and society as a whole must come together to somehow stop this carnage.The laws are already there