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Delhi gang-rape: suspects in fatal attack on student to go to fast-track court | Delhi gang-rape: suspects in fatal attack on student to go to fast-track court |
(35 minutes later) | |
An Indian magistrate has ordered the trial of five men accused over the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a bus to be moved to a special fast-track court in Delhi. | |
The brutal rape of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student last month sparked protests and led to a national debate about the treatment of women across India and the inability of law enforcement to protect them. | |
Since the attack, the government has set up five fast-track courts in the capital to deal swiftly with crimes against women. | |
Authorities were eager to move the bus rape case to one of those courts – which are designed to avoid the delays, incompetence and corruption that plague much of India's legal system. | |
Namrita Aggarwal, a magistrate, dealt with several procedural issues during a session on Thursday morning, then reconvened the court in the afternoon for a second session, at which she ordered the transfer to a fast-track court. The first hearing in the case is to be held on Monday. | |
A sixth suspect in the attack claims to be a juvenile and his case is being handled separately. | |
Lawyers for the five have claimed that police mistreated them, including beating them to force them to confess to the crime, which occurred on 16 December. | |
V K Anand, a lawyer for one defendants, said on Thursday he would try to get the rape trial moved from Delhi since he did not believe his client would get a fair hearing in the capital. | |
Police say the victim and a male friend, going home from an evening movie, had boarded a bus going from the Munirka area heading to Dwarka, south-west Delhi. They were attacked by six assailants. | Police say the victim and a male friend, going home from an evening movie, had boarded a bus going from the Munirka area heading to Dwarka, south-west Delhi. They were attacked by six assailants. |
The attackers beat the man and took turns raping the woman and penetrated her repeatedly with a metal bar, causing massive internal injuries, police said. During the attack the bus was driven through a series of police checkpoints without incident, police said. | |
The victims were eventually dumped on the roadside, and the woman died two weeks later in a Singapore hospital. | |
The attack focused attention on the little discussed issue of sexual violence in a country where women are still often regarded as second-class citizens. | The attack focused attention on the little discussed issue of sexual violence in a country where women are still often regarded as second-class citizens. |
Victims are often blamed for sexual attacks, by their families or authorities, and the shame of rape keeps many women from reporting attacks. | |
Since the gang rape, though, sexual violence has become front-page news nearly every day across India, with demands that the government do more to protect women and prosecute those that attack them. | Since the gang rape, though, sexual violence has become front-page news nearly every day across India, with demands that the government do more to protect women and prosecute those that attack them. |
The government has established several committees to look into how such a horrific attack could occur and recommend changes in the law. | The government has established several committees to look into how such a horrific attack could occur and recommend changes in the law. |