India gang rape: six men charged with murder

Indian police charged six men with murder on Saturday, hours after a woman who was gang-raped and thrown from a moving bus in Delhi nearly two weeks ago died in a Singapore hospital.

Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the six will face the death penalty if convicted.

The announcement came as thousands of Indians gathered to mourn and protest the death of the 23-year-old medical student. The woman, who has not been named, sustained serious internal injuries after being violated with an iron barduring the attack, which took place on 16 December and triggered mass demonstrations calling for better protection for women against sexual violence.

She died late on Friday in the Singapore hospital where she was being treated.

Her family had been keeping a bedside vigil after she suffered severe organ failure. She was flown to Singapore from India two days ago as her condition worsened.

"We are very sad to report that the patient passed away peacefully … Her family and officials from the High Commission of India were by her side," Kelvin Loh, the chief executive of the Mount Elizabeth hospital, said in a statement.

Authorities in India have reacted with statements of grief, calls for calm and a huge security operation.

Amid an outpouring of anger and sorrow in cities across the nation, large numbers of police were deployed in Delhi to prevent demonstrators reaching parliament, the president's residence and the India Gate war memorial. The official residences of ministers, top officials and Sonia Gandhi, the president of the ruling Congress party, were also heavily guarded and metro stations were shut.

President Pranab Mukherjee said the victim was "a true hero and symbolises the best in Indian youth and women". He called on "everyone to maintain peace and calm".

Silent demonstrations are being planned in most major cities of India. Media have dubbed the woman "Braveheart" and "India's daughter".

"I just want to be here to say how much she meant to all of us and how much we want nothing of this to ever happen again to any lady.

Attitudes in this country must change now. There should be security," said Beena Subramaniam, a 24-year-old student who had traveled to Delhi's Janta Mantar observatory, where protests were being permitted.

The huge deployment of the security forces reinforced the impression of many that the government was out of touch with public emotion.

"They are not joining with us, they are keeping us away," said Neeraj Kumar, 28, a small businessman on his way to the demonstration.

Protests last weekend turned violent with police using water cannon, teargas and baton charges to disperse demonstrators close to parliament.

The case has provoked calls for the chemical castration of rapists and even public hanging. The government has set up a commission to recommend new measures. One is likely to be the publication on the internet of a registry of sex offenders. Others include fast-track courts and a higher proportion of women police officers.

"We have already seen the emotions and energies this incident has generated. These are perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change," prime minister Manmohan Singh said.

Sheila Dikshit, the chief minister of Delhi, said that she felt ashamed "not just as [chief minister], but as a citizen of India".

The case has provoked an unprecedented debate on sexual violence towards women in India. Sexual harassment – known locally as "Eve-teasing" is endemic and often accepted. A series of rapes in rural areas in the state of Haryana, adjacent to Delhi, earlier this year provoked suggestions from politicians and community leaders that much sexual violence was consensual and that the age of marriage should be lowered. Women who report rapes are repeatedly ignored or harassed themselves by police. The belief that women are responsible for sexual assault is widespread.

In the wake of the most recent incident, dozens of other rapes, often by multiple assailants, have been reported by media across India. Many feature minors.

"These are not an isolated incidents. The outrage now should lead to reforms in both system and attitude, so that victims are not blamed, humiliated or suffering silently," said Meenakshi Ganguly, the regional director of Human Rights Watch said.

In one incident reported this week, police jeered and laughed when a 17-year-old in Patiala, in the north-western state of Punjab, attempted to report a gang rape. She later committed suicide. Two officers have now been sacked and one suspended.

The victim in the Delhi case is from a modest family from the north of India who sold their ancestral land to fund her medical training.

She was returning from watching a film at 9pm when she and her 28-year-old male friend accepted a lift in the bus. Public transport in Delhi is grossly inadequate and though the wealthy can afford cars, usually chauffeur-driven, few others can.