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.