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Lawyer to demand open trial for India rape accused
A lawyer for two defendants accused of the fatal gang-rape of a student on a New Delhi bus said Tuesday he would file a petition challenging an order preventing the media from reporting on the trial.
The case is being held behind closed doors in a new "fast-track" court in the south of the city where the judge has imposed the gagging order and warned lawyers who speak to the media that they could be guilty of contempt.
"I will be filing a petition for an open trial in the High Court this week," lawyer V.K Anand, who is acting for brothers Mukesh and Ram Singh, told AFP by telephone.
The dead woman, a physiotherapy student, died 13 days after the assault on December 16 when she boarded a bus to get home after watching a film in a shopping mall with her male companion.
Though sexual harassment is commonplace in India and gang-rapes far from rare, the case has touched a nerve, leading to an outpouring of criticism of the police and attitudes to women in Indian society.
