INDIAN POLICE HAVE formally charged five men with murder, kidnapping and rape following the fatal gang-rape of a young woman that appalled the nation.
“We have filed the charge sheet against the five accused,” an investigating police officer told a magistrate hearing the case in the Saket court complex in New Delhi.
The five suspects aged between 35 and 19, who would face the death penalty if convicted, were not present in the small courtroom when the media were allowed in to listen to part of the proceedings.
The men face at least seven charges, including murder, kidnapping, rape, robbery and attempting to destroy evidence. The next hearing in the case was set for January 5.
A sixth suspect who is believed to be a minor aged 17 was not charged in the Saket court today. Detectives are awaiting the results of a bone test to verify his age and determine whether he can be tried in an adult court.
The next hearing has been set for Saturday. The trial has been fast-tracked to avoid the delays typical of India’s dysfunctional justice system.
The victim, a medical student from north India, was repeatedly raped and violated with an iron bar on a moving bus on December 16 as she returned from a cinema where she had watched a film with her boyfriend.
The 23-year-old victim in the gang-rape case, who died at the weekend from her horrific injuries, gave a statement to police immediately after the attack.
Her boyfriend, who was with her at the time and was also attacked, has also given an account.
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