Delhi gang-rape: judge praises Delhi Police, earlier flayed for lapses

New Delhi: While convicting four men for the December 16 gang-rape case that forced a national uproar demanding better safety for women, the judge, who handled the trial, said the investigation was buoyed by exceptional initiative by the Delhi Police. (Convict's sobbing mother threw herself at lawyer's feet)

"It was thorough," said Judge Yogesh Khanna about the inquiry. "The police should do similar work in other cases as well." (Punish according to crime, not age, says braveheart's mother)

Lawyers involved with the case said that the main evidence against the convicts was the lengthy statement made by the student in hospital before she died. Forensic reports that linked the men to her assault also underscored the convicts' guilt, said lawyers. (Delhi gang-rape case verdict: I want to live, she told her mother)

The tribute to the police from the judge is in stark contrast to the assortment of police lapses that were highlighted in the days after the attack. The bus that was used had been fined repeatedly for traffic violations and should have been impounded; it had illegal tinted windows and lettering on its side declared it belonged to a school. Yet, at night, it rolled through a row of police check points without being pulled over for inspection. On board, an assault of unimaginable scale was being executed. (Delhi gang-rape: They committed the murder of a helpless victim, says judge)

The girl's friend said in interviews that after the men threw them onto the road, where the couple lay bleeding , police vans were slow to respond to calls for help, and when they did show up, officers argued about who should rush the couple to hospital. (She could make anyone smile, says friend who was with her)

The police today said that a core team of eight officers worked tirelessly to build  the  case against the four men who were found guilty (another suspect hanged himself in prison in March, and a sixth gang-member, a 17-year-old, was sentenced to three years in a reform centre last month by a juveniles court).

"Our charge-sheet was so strong against the accused that even if all the 88 witnesses had turned hostile, our case against them would have stood the test," said PS Kushwaha, who headed the investigating team.  (After raping 'Amanat', men on bus allegedly tried to run her over)