Delhi gang-rape: top cop briefs Home Minister - 10 latest developments

Apart from the three arrested, three others have been detained. The police have recovered the iron rod which was used to assault the victim and her male friend, who was escorting her home that evening. Sketches of suspects were prepared from descriptions shared by the victim's friend. (Share your experience as a woman in our cities)

The police has described the assailants as "sadists". The men accused are the same bus staff on board when the chartered bus, run by a private operator, is used to ferry schoolchildren in the day.

The horrific incident was raised by angry parliamentarians today in both Houses. While BJP leader, speaking in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj demanded capital punishment for the rapists, Jaya Bachchan said in Rajya Sabha, "We live in such a country where women are worshipped. But that faith is disrupted every day because in some city of India, especially in the capital there are atrocities against women."

Footage released by the police from a highway CCTV camera shows the white, private bus crossing the camera on Sunday night just after 9 pm. A little later, the victim boarded the bus with her friend at Munirka in south Delhi while returning home after watching a film. The police say they boarded the bus, which was not regular public transport, from a well-lit spot. (Read: How police cracked Delhi gang-rape case)

Inside the bus, the six men were already on board and soon allegedly began to harass the young woman, taunting her for being out with a man in the night. When her friend protested, they allegedly beat him with iron rods and then allegedly raped the woman repeatedly, also beating her brutally with the rod. The young woman has undergone multiple surgeries at the Safdarjung hospital and is on ventilator support, battling for her life.

Doctors say there are blunt injuries on her face and abdomen and that the iron rod used to beat her has caused irreparable damage to her abdomen. She is conscious now and is communicating with the staff at her hospital by scribbling. Doctors say that the next 48 hours are critical for her; they described the injuries to her intestines and private parts as "extremely serious." (Read)

Her friend, who was being treated for head injuries, was discharged from the hospital today. After 45 minutes of being assaulted as the bus was driven across south Delhi, the two were thrown off the bus, stripped of their clothes, at a flyover. (Read: Angry MPs ask govt for tough action, more security)

The Police Control Room received a phone call from a passer-by, a little after 11 pm on Sunday, informing them that a semi-naked couple was lying unconscious on a flyover. The police then rushed the couple to hospital. It took the police some time to track the bus down. It was traced in suburban Noida.

Police said Ram Singh and the others had been partying and drinking on Sunday night, before setting off with the bus to make an extra buck. The cops said they showed the CCTV footage to the transporters who identified the bus and said it was used for ferrying children at a south Delhi school. The police then tracked down the bus and driver. The cops also said they sent blank texts on the phones that the accused had snatched from the victims. One of the phones was active and that helped the police get the location of the one of the accused held.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has said that the permit of the bus has been cancelled by the transport department. She has promised all efforts to ensure such an incident does not happen again.