Indian rape gang ‘tried to run over victim’
Her boyfriend, who was beaten up and thrown off the bus after the woman had been repeatedly raped, managed to pull her away before they were able to run her over, police are set to allege in a 1,000-page charge sheet to be presented in court today.
The 23-year-old female medical student, who died in hospital days after the attack, bit three of her attackers as she attempted to fight them off, local newspapers and TV reports said.
These injuries on the suspects, as well as forensic evidence such as blood, semen and hair samples and the testimony of the injured boyfriend, are expected to form the main evidence against the accused.
Five men have been arrested and are expected today to formally face murder and rape charges in a fast-track court set up to try them.
Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the suspects risked the death penalty if found guilty and the case against them appeared very strong.
A sixth suspect is thought to be aged 17, meaning he would face a juveniles’ court, but he is undergoing a bone test to determine his age, a spokesman in the Delhi police said.
“The woman and her friend were stripped and thrown out of the bus,” The Indian Express reported. “Her friend pulled her away when he saw the bus reversing to run her over.”
The Times of India newspaper said the charge sheet was likely to begin with details on how the driver of the private vehicle, who allegedly took part in the rape, got his group of friends together and set out for a joyride.
One of the charges against the accused relates to the destruction of evidence, the paper said, since the driver had tried to wash the bus and had burned the clothes that were snatched from the victim.
The woman died at the weekend after a 13-day struggle to survive injuries so grievous her intestines had to be removed. She also underwent three major surgeries and suffered a cardiac arrest before being flown to Singapore.
The brutality and horrific nature of the attack has led to protests in the capital and elsewhere, and has prompted calls for the death penalty for the rapists.
The government, which has faced a wave of public anger over the attack, this week set up a special committee to look into safety issues and review the functioning of Delhi police on a regular basis.
A panel to recommend changes to the criminal law dealing with sexual crimes was set up last week.
Junior education minister Shashi Tharoor sparked a debate when he suggested that a proposed new anti-rape law to toughen sentences against sex offenders be named after the dead student.
While much of her identity is known, her name has not been disclosed.
“Unless her parents object, she should be honoured and the revised anti-rape law named after her,” Tharoor wrote on Twitter.
Victims of sex crimes are granted anonymity to avoid them or their families facing stigma from the crime.
Meanwhile, India’s top court said it will decide whether to suspend legislators facing sexual assault charges.
Chief Justice Altamas Kabir agreed to hear a petition today from retired government administrator Promilla Shanker asking the Supreme Court to suspend all legislators from the national and state legislatures who are facing prosecution for crimes against women.
She also asked the court to force the national government to fast-track thousands of rape cases that have languished in India’s notoriously sluggish court system for years.
Six state legislators are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape, said Jagdeep S Chhokar, an official with the Association for Democratic Reforms, which tracks political candidate’s criminal records.
In the past five years, political parties across India nominated 260 candidates awaiting trial on charges of crimes against women, he said. Parties ran six candidates for the national parliamentary elections facing such charges, Chhokar said.
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