World's Tip - 5 accused men plead not guilty in India gang rape

[NBCNews]

Anindito Mukherjee/EPAIndian activists participate in a candle-light vigil held against the brutal Delhi gang-rape in New Delhi, India, on Feb. 2, 2013. By Annie Banerji, ReutersNEW DELHI -- Five men pleaded not guilty on Saturday to charges they raped and  murdered an Indian trainee physiotherapist, in a case that led to a  shake-up of laws against intercourseual crimes after protests about a rising  number of attacks on women.

Police say the gang lured the  23-year-old woman onto a bus in New Delhi, where they repeatedly raped  and assaulted her with a metal bar before throwing her bleeding onto a  highway. She died of internal injuries two weeks after the Dec. 16  attack.

A Reuters witness saw the men file into the court room  with their faces covered, where lawyers in the case said they were read 13 charges including murder, which carries a maximum penalty of  death. They left after 15 minutes.

Follow @NBCNewsWorld"After the judge read out the  charges, the five pleaded not guilty and walked out" said A.P. Singh, a  lawyer defending two of the accused, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur.

Singh  said the prosecution will call three witnesses to the next hearing on  Tuesday, which is the formal start of the trial. The prosecution says it  has strong evidence against the five men including blood stained  clothing, DNA matches, mobile phone records, confessions and eye-witness  statements.

Singh says Sharma was never on the bus and Thakur was hiding beneath a seat and never took part in the crime.

The  other men - brothers Ram and Mukesh Singh and Pawan Kumar - are  represented by two other lawyers. Mukesh Singh has replaced a lawyer who  claimed his client was tortured in police custody, and no longer claims  mistreatment.

A sixth person police say was part of the gang  that attacked the woman and her friend is a juvenile and will be tried  separately.

The brutality of the attack was shocking even to a  nation inured to a rising wave of intercourseual crimes against women. Thousands  of young protesters took to the streets in the weeks that followed. In  response to the public outcry, on Friday the cabinet fast-tracked new,  tougher penalties for intercourse crimes.

Under the new rules, due to be  signed into law by the president in the coming days, gang rape that  leads to death will be punishable by death while minimum penalties will  be raised to 20 years for gang rape and rape of a minor. The laws must  later be ratified by parliament.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

NBC News