The Indian bus rape and murder case could be held up by legal delays after a claim that one of the five men charged is a juvenile.

One of five men charged with the gang rape and murder of an Indian student said police tortured him in custody and he and at least three of his co-defendants say they are innocent, lawyers said.

Police badly beat the five suspects arrested over the brutal gang rape and killing of a young woman on a bus in India, the lawyer for three of the men said today.

A lawyer for three suspects in the brutal rape and killing of a young woman in New Delhi says they will plead not guilty in the case that has transfixed India and raised questions about the treatment of women.

Three of the men accused of raping and murdering an Indian student have asked lawyers to defend them and the lawyers have agreed to do so, even though most of the judiciary has refused to represent the suspects because of outrage over the attack.