Tags
|
A court yesterday lifted a gag order on the media covering the trial of a group of men accused of raping and killing a student in Delhi, a move that will shed light on the daily hearings in a case which sparked global outrage. |
A court had banned news channels, newspapers and foreign media from reporting the trial. But that order was revoked by the Delhi High Court following an appeal by an activist lawyer who said the hearings should be transparent.
Police say five men and a juvenile raped and tortured a 23-year-old physiotherapy student on a moving bus in December last year, and then tossed her naked and bleeding body on to the road.
The student, whose name cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, died in a Singapore hospital two weeks later.
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges of gang rape and murder. The juvenile is being tried separately.
The student’s death stunned the country and sparked street protests, uproar in parliament and provoked months of debate on the safety of women in the world’s largest democracy.
Lifting the gag order could uncover previously unknown details in the case that has already seen several twists, including the sensational death of the group’s alleged ringleader, found hanged in a Delhi prison earlier this month.
“The Delhi High Court order is a victory of freedom of the press,” Meenakshi Lekhi, a Supreme Court lawyer who petitioned for the media ban to be overturned, said.
At the first hearing since the media ban was lifted yesterday, the four accused stood listening to police evidence.
Every now and then the defence and prosecution lawyers engaged in verbal spats, prompting judge Yogesh Khanna to say: “What is this? There are people from various institutions seated here today, including the media, and look at how you’re behaving.”
A police officer described raiding the home of one of the accused, Akshay Thakur, retrieving a pair of jeans believed to have been worn on the day the rape, covered in blood patches around the pockets and the groin.
At the end of the hearing, the parents of co-accused Vinay Sharma walked into the court room. He burst into tears, walked towards his parents and touched their feet as a mark of respect. On Thursday, parliament approved a tough new law to punish sex crimes, including death for repeat rape offenders, criminalising voyeurism, and making acid attacks and human trafficking specific offences.
There are no comments.
SPORT Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
TECHNOLOGY Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
CULTURE Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
ARABIA The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
ARABIA Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
ARABIA The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
ECONOMY Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.
