Trial of Delhi gang-rape suspect has begun: Prosecutor

NEW DELHI: Five men went on trial Monday over the fatal gang-rape of student on a bus in Delhi as the victim's father urged the special fast-track court to deliver swift justice and sentence her attackers to hang.

With the case being held behind closed doors and subject to a gagging order, it was left to one of the prosecutors to announce the start of the case to reporters packed outside the sessions court in New Delhi.

"The trial has begun," Dayan Krishnan told AFP. "The chargesheet has been submitted before the judge and the arguments will begin on January 24."

The trial is being held in a special "fast-track" court in the capital set up to circumvent India's notoriously slow justice system, with the victim's family leading widespread calls for quick closure on the horrifying case.

The start of the trial was delayed until late in the afternoon Monday by a failed application to overturn the gagging order while a lawyer for one defendant also sought to move the trial out of New Delhi.

The father of the 23-year-old victim said her family would rest only once the culprits were convicted and hanged and he urged judge Yogesh Khanna to complete his work quickly.

"We have finished the mourning rituals for my daughter in the village but our mourning will not end until the court passes down its verdict. My daughter's soul will only rest in peace after the court punishes the men," the father told AFP.

"It is the duty of the court and the judges to ensure that the final order to punish all the accused is handed down quickly and all the men are hanged.

"No man has the right to live after committing such a heinous crime."

The assault last month on the medical student, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sparked mass protests across India -- in particular in New Delhi which has been dubbed the country's "rape capital" over the incidence of such attacks.

Though gang-rapes and sexual harassment are commonplace in India, the case has touched a nerve, leading to an outpouring of criticism of the treatment of women in Indian society.

Sonia Gandhi, president of India's ruling Congress party, on Sunday condemned the "shameful" social attitudes which she said led to crimes like gang-rape. The New Delhi case had "shaken the entire country," she added.

The five men face murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping and other charges, with prosecutors expected to demand the death penalty. A sixth suspect, who claims he is 17, will be tried by a separate juvenile court.

Defence lawyers say they will enter not-guilty pleas and accuse police of torturing the adult defendants -- aged between 19 and 35 -- to confess.

The woman, a promising student whose father worked extra shifts as an airport baggage handler to educate her, suffered massive intestinal injuries during the assault on the bus in which she was raped and violated with an iron bar.

She died 13 days later after the government airlifted her to a Singapore hospital in a last-ditch bid to save her life.

In a move that could lead to a significant delay to proceedings, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a request to transfer the trial to a venue outside New Delhi.

M.L. Sharma, counsel for defendant Mukesh Singh, said it would be impossible for his client to receive a fair hearing in the city where the December 16 attack took place.

The application for a transfer will be considered by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

V.K. Anand, a defence lawyer for another suspect called Ram Singh, asked the judge to lift the reporting ban on proceedings, but his request was refused.

"Crime is against society at large. Society has the right to know what happens in the court," he argued when speaking to AFP.

Senior prosecutor Rajiv Mohan, who has vowed to seek the death penalty for the "heinous" crime, has said that he has "sufficient evidence" against all the accused to secure a conviction.

Police have gathered DNA evidence allegedly linking the defendants to the attack while the victim's hospital-bed declaration before her death and testimony from her 28-year-old companion are also set to be crucial.

India says it only imposes the death penalty in the "rarest of rare cases". Two months ago, it hanged the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks -- the country's first execution in eight years.

Crimes against women blot on our conscience: Sonia Gandhi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi said here Friday that issues related to crimes against women and children must be promptly dealt with.

"Discrimination against the girl child and atrocities against women are a blot on our collective conscience. Sexual harassment, women trafficking and female foeticide should shake us and awaken us," Sonia Gandhi said at the party's meeting here.

"Gender issues are fundamental and the entire party must bring this to the heart of political activity and change mindsets," she said.

On the situation on Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, she said: "Dialogue with neighbours must be based on accepted principles of civilised behaviour."

Asking the Congress to look at its strengths, weaknesses and threats, Sonia Gandhi said: "There is increased competition and inroads have been made in our traditional strongholds. We have to strike a fine balance between respecting alliances and ensuring rejuvenation of the party."

She asked partymen to observe austerity. "Lavish weddings will lead to questions on where money came from," she said.

Delhi gang-rape case moved to fast-track court: Lawyer

NEW DELHI: The case against five adults accused of gang-raping and murdering a student in New Delhi was moved on Thursday for trial in a fast-track court, a lawyer for one of the defendants said.

"The magistrate has committed the case to the sessions court which is fast-track," Sadashiv Gupta, the lawyer for fruit-seller Pawan Kumar, told reporters outside a district court in south Delhi. The court would hold its first hearing on the case on January 21, Gupta added.

Iraq car bombs kill 15 pilgrims

Fifteen people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks in Iraq.

An Iraqi provincial health official said at least 11 Shiite pilgrims died when two car bombs exploded near Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad, as they were heading to a shrine in the town of Samarra.

Raed Ibrahim, head of the Salahuddin provincial health directorate, said more than 60 other people were injured.

Earlier, another car bomb killed four Shiite pilgrims as they were heading to shrines in the south of the country.

Shiite pilgrims are a favourite target for Sunni insurgents who seek to undermine the country's Shiite-led government.

Two dead in London helicopter crash

 Two people died when a helicopter clipped a crane at the top of a building in central London Wednesday, scattering debris to the ground as it burst into fire.

The BBC, quoting police, said one of the victims died in the helicopter, without giving further details. Reports said earlier there was only one person on board the AugustaWestland AW 109.

“There was a massive explosion. People were shouting and screaming,” an eyewitness told the BBC. One person was rescued from a burning car, witnesses said.

People who were on their way to work during the morning rush hour reported parts of an aircraft falling out of the sky before the helicopter “plummeting down.” Police said two people died in the accident, in Wandsworth in south-east London. The helicopter reportedly came down in misty weather conditions near the Battersea heliport, used mostly by private plane owners.

Ambulances and more than 60 fire brigades rushed to the scene, as people were being evacuated from homes and offices. The fires were extinguished around two hours after the crash at 0800 GMT.

“I could see the top of the crane was shaking on the top of the building. It was very foggy so the helicopter probably couldn’t see it,” said one witness.

The accident, not far from Waterloo train station and a major bus depot, caused long traffic delays on the roads and on the public transport network.

Red wine wards off cholesterol

Drinking red wine can ward-off cholesterol build-up resulting from eating red meat, say scientists.

Harmful compounds from red meat form in the bloodstream, creating "bad" cholesterol that damages blood vessels and heightens cardiac risks.

The researchers showed, however, that anti-oxidants in the wine known as polyphenols prevented these compounds from being absorbed into the bloodstream where they can cause harm, the "Journal of Functional Foods" reports.

Ron Kohen, professor from the Institute of Drug Research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said this may help to explain why red wine has frequently been found to reduce the risk of heart disease, according to the "Telegraph".

"Meat is rich in polyunsaturated fat and cholesterol. Our results could provide an explanation for the association between frequent meat consumption and increased risk in developing cardiovascular diseases. Including polyphenol rich products as an integral part of the meal significantly diminish these harmful effects," said Kohen.

Over four days, the researchers fed a group of healthy volunteers a series of meals of dark turkey cutlets and asked them to avoid other meats and fish. A smaller group of the same individuals then repeated the four-day diet, accompanying each cutlet with the equivalent of a glass of red wine.

The research showed that when the volunteers ate the meat alone, they had increased levels of a compound known as malondialdehyde in their bloodstream. They also showed greater levels of cholesterol that had been modified by malondialdehyde in their blood.

After four days of eating the meat, the levels of modified cholesterol had increased by 97 percent. It is thought that such modified cholesterol is responsible for hardening arteries and creating plaques that lead to heart disease.

When they had the cutlets with red wine, however, the levels of modified cholesterol did not change and even fell in some cases.

Suspect in Delhi gang-rape case appeared in TV show

NEW DELHI — A driver charged with the gang-rape and murder of a student on his bus in New Delhi was accused of drink driving by a former employer when he appeared on a reality TV show in 2010, footage showed on Friday.

Ram Singh, one of six people accused of the fatal December 16 attack on a 23-year-old student, featured in Aap Ki Kachehri (Your Court), a show hosted by former top police officer Kiran Bedi who tries to resolve civil disputes.

Singh, wearing a loose bright orange shirt, argued on the programme that he was entitled to compensation from his employer for injuries that he suffered while driving one of their buses in the capital.

But his employer, who also appeared on the show, in turn accused Singh of "drunk, negligent and rash driving" and alleged that he had taken the bus out despite being told it had been withdrawn from service.

"He alleged that his employer had not financially assisted him with hospital bills following the accident," Bedi told The Times of India.

"The employer refused to pay any compensation as he alleged that Singh had a history of irresponsible behaviour. Singh did not get any compensation at the end of the show," she added.

The episode also showed Singh pleading that he was a widower and had a young son to take care of.

"All I want is the compensation so that I can live the rest of my life peacefully and bring up my son nicely," Singh said, standing on a podium and facing the judge.

Singh and his five co-accused are alleged to have taken it in turns to rape the woman as well as assaulting her male companion before throwing them off the moving bus.

The victim died in a Singapore hospital, 13 days after the attack, which triggered mass protests across India.

Singh, if convicted, could face the death penalty.