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Subscribe to RSSNEW DELHI — Five suspects, their faces covered with woolen caps, arrived in a special fast-track New Delhi court Thursday for the start of their trial for the rape and murder of a young woman on a bus last month in a case that triggered outrage and questions over the treatment of women in India's justice system.
Police were on alert outside the sprawling court complex in south New Delhi as the suspects arrived. Inside the court, about 30 policemen blocked access to the room where the trial was to be held, while scores of journalists and curious onlookers crowded the hallway.
The suspects were whisked into the courtroom by a phalanx of armed policemen for the start of the trial, although no immediate details were released.
The court will hear opening arguments by the prosecution and defense lawyers. The trial will be conducted in a closed court room after Judge Yogesh Khanna denied a defense motion to make the proceedings public.
A sixth suspect says he is a juvenile and is expected to be tried in a juvenile court.
Police say the victim and a male friend were attacked after boarding a bus Dec. 16. The attackers beat the man and raped the woman, inflicting massive internal injuries with a metal bar, police said. The victims were dumped naked on the roadside, and the woman died two weeks later in a Singapore hospital.
The trial began a day after a government panel recommended India strictly enforce sexual assault laws, commit to holding speedy rape trials and change the antiquated penal code to protect women.
The panel appointed to recommend suggestions to overhaul the criminal justice system's handling of violence against women, received 80,000 suggestions from women's and rights groups and thousands of ordinary citizens.
Among the panel's suggestions were a ban on a traumatic vaginal exam of rape victims and an end to political interference in sex-crime cases. It has also suggested the appointment of more judges to help speed up India's sluggish judicial process and clear millions of pending cases.
Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said the government would take the recommendations to the Cabinet and Parliament.
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doesn't matter this will change nothing its a cultural thing in India to treat women like second class citizens
If the weapons are going to help protect the women, the women need to know how to use them. This could backfire on a woman trying to protect herself and worsen an already dangerous situation.
There are a couple of things that I just HAVE to comment on......the men were allowed to cover their faces when going to court. For the enormity of the crimes, they should be stoned where they stand. I certainly like the fact that trials are done shortly after the conviction, while the event is still fresh in people's minds. I highly doubt that anything will happen to these thugs except a little jail time. The mere savagery of this rape and impalement makes me sick to my stomach that she had to endure such a horrible death. I say cut their hands and dick off as punishment. A nice reminder of what they did to this woman.
If they make it through this trial and are not given an appropriate punishment, rest assured that in this particular case, those men won't have the chance to make it from the courthouse to the police vehicle. The people have been very vocal about protesting this incident, and if justice is not achieved in the courtroom, then there will be a mob surge and hanging. Although with any luck, that'll happen, anyway.
Oh, I'm sure that if they are found guilty that they will get what's coming to them. Aside from murderers, rapists don't deserve prison time. They deserve to be put to death any way the victim pleases.
Unfortunately, the victim died in this case. I am a man, but find this crime atrocious. They should all be publicly castrated. Then locked away in jail.