India gang-rape trial begins behind closed doors
Indian police guide a vehicle believed to be carrying the accused in a gang-rape and murder case into Saket District Court in New Delhi, Jan. 7, 2013. / Getty
Updated at 6:09 a.m. Eastern
NEW DELHI An Indian magistrate ruled Monday that the media will not be allowed to attend pre-trial hearings or the trial of the five men accused of raping and killing a young student in the Indian capital, a police official said.
Magistrate Namrita Aggarwal upheld the prosecutor's request that the media be barred from attending the proceedings, according to police spokesman Rajan Bhagat. Hundreds of journalists, lawyers from other cases and curious onlookers had crowded the courtroom where the five were to appear. Outside the courthouse complex, more than a dozen TV satellite trucks jammed the streets, and dozens of reporters — from India, the U.S., Japan and elsewhere — were waiting for news.
The Monday hearing was expected to result in the case being sent to a special "fast-track" court. Indian courts are notoriously slow, with some cases dragging on for decades. The trial is expected to begin in the coming days. Indian rape trials are normally closed to the media.
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Authorities have charged the men with murder, rape and other crimes that could bring them the death penalty. The crime caused nationwide outrage, leading to massive protests.
Gang-rape sparks rage in India
A sixth suspect, who is 17 years old, is expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.
Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said last week that a DNA test confirmed that the blood of the victim matched blood stains found on the clothes of all the accused.
On Sunday, two of the defendants offered to become "approvers," or informers against the others, according to reporters present at the hearing. The two were presumably seeking lighter sentences.
The companion of the student recounted in a television interview last week how the pair was attacked for 2 1/2 hours on a New Delhi bus before being thrown on the side of the road, where passersby ignored them and police debated jurisdiction issues before helping them. The student died at a Singapore hospital weeks after the Dec. 16 attack.
Indian law prohibits the disclosure of victims' identities in rape cases. While neither the companion nor the TV network, Zee News, identified the woman, police opened an investigation into Zee News after the interview was broadcast, saying too many details about the attack had been revealed.
The attack has led to calls for tougher rape laws and reforms of a police culture that often blames rape victims and refuses to file charges against accused attackers. The nation's top law enforcement official said the country needs to crack down on crimes against women.
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When reading "India rape victim's friend recalls brutal attack" one is left in sheer chock; an act of pure malice by males. Yet, in the wake India has awoken; maybe something good can arise out of the murky deed - a deeper respect for human rights.
At the same time when seeing the video "Indian women protest brutality" there is no doubt, these females want capital punishment. But be careful what you wish for: as, can one inhumane act of violence justify another.
Inform yourself; take a look back at the history of death penalty, before you shout about it. Shunt this virtual way ...
"In Violence of Technique - the Electric Chair"
http://youtu.be/qJ98GuyUx8U
Le Berthelaine - Danish artist, writer and critic
There are lots of religious problems,there is the caste system and attitudes by many Indian men are hostile to women on cultural grounds.
Whatever the verdict,there will be uproar,but the crime showed a bad side of India just at the time they are becoming part of the Western type economy.
(Which is why the lawyers were ALL disavowing these 5 criminals and refusing to represent them).
The amount of world wide embarrasment to India over this issue,may well make them execute the perpetrators to placate world opinion.
Hopefully women may get treated better in the long term, but it is ulikely that will happen overnight.
No doubt expansion of the world economy will gradually level out attitudes across the world, but no-one hold your breath!!