THE MEDIA has been banned from court in all preliminary and full hearings of the five men accused of raping and killing a young student in New Delhi.
Magistrate Namrita Aggarwal upheld a prosecution request for a closed hearing after hundreds of journalists, lawyers from other cases and curious onlookers had crowded the court where the five were to appear.
Outside more than a dozen TV satellite trucks jammed the streets, and dozens of reporters from India and around the world were left waiting for news.
The five defendants later appeared before the magistrate, who scheduled another pre-trial hearing on Thursday that is expected to result in the case being sent to a special “fast-track” court.
Indian courts are notoriously slow, with some cases dragging on for decades.
The trial is expected to begin in the coming days. Indian rape trials are normally closed to the media.
Authorities have charged the men with murder, rape and other crimes that could carry the death penalty.
The crime caused nationwide outrage, leading to massive protests.
A sixth suspect, who is 17, is expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.
Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said last week that a DNA test confirmed that the blood of the victim matched bloodstains found on the clothes of all the accused.
Two of the defendants have offered to become “approvers,” or informers against the others, presumably seeking lighter sentences.
The student died at a Singapore hospital weeks after the December 16 attack which took place on a bus.