AUTHORITIES YESTERDAY filed rape and murder charges against five men accused of the gang rape of a 23-year-old university student on a New Delhi bus.
The crime has horrified Indians and provoked a national debate about the treatment of women.
Police said they plan to push for the death penalty in the case, as government officials promised new measures to protect women in the nation’s capital.
Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan filed a case of rape, tampering with evidence, kidnapping, murder and other charges against the men in a new fast-track court in south Delhi inaugurated only the day before to deal specifically with crimes against women. He asked for a closed trial.
The men charged are Ram Singh (33), the bus driver; his brother Mukesh Singh (26), who cleans buses for the same company; Pavan Gupta (19), a fruit vendor; Akshay Singh (24), a bus washer; and Vinay Sharma (20), a fitness trainer. They did not appear in court.
A sixth suspect was listed as 17 and was expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility. Police also detained the owner of the bus on accusations that he used false documents to obtain permits to run the private bus service.
Media reports say police have gathered 30 witnesses, and the charges have been detailed in a document running to more than 1,000 pages. The document has not been released yet.
The Bar Association said its lawyers would not defend the suspects because of the nature of the crime, but the court is expected to appoint lawyers to defend them.
The woman, who died of her injuries in a Singapore hospital on Saturday, was attacked on December 16 after boarding a bus with a male companion after watching an evening showing of the film Life of Pi at an upmarket mall. The vehicle was a charter bus that illegally picked up the two passengers.
The pair were attacked for hours as the bus drove through the city, even passing through police checkpoints during the assault. They were eventually dumped naked on the side of the road.
The attack caused outrage across India, sparking protests and demands for tough new rape laws.