" He excused this on account of karmic justice - that she somehow deserved it!"

This attitude of 'blame the victim' is one of the fundamental misunderstandings of the way karma works. In fact, it's possible for a buddhist to ignore the law of karma completely and concentrate on developing compassion which will in the end address the whole issue of karmic debut; you don't have to believe in karma or reincarnation to be a buddhist.