New Delhi:
A verdict in the case of the Delhi gang-rape, which provoked a symmetry of national anger and grief, is likely to be delivered in the middle of September.
Six men were arrested for the assault on a young intern and her boyfriend on a moving bus in December. She died of her injuries two weeks later.
The countrywide outrage prompted the government to order a fast-track trial in a special Delhi court- it has been in progress for seven months.
Of the six suspects, one was 17 at the time of the crime and is being tried by a juveniles court. Another committed suicide in jail in March.
The prosecution concluded its arguments in the case today; defence lawyers are scheduled to wrap their case in the first week of September. Lawyers for both sides say a verdict should be delivered by the middle of next month.
Before she died, the 23-year-old physiotherapy trainee gave a detailed statement to the police in hospital. Her boyfriend has also provided crucial evidence, investigators have said. DNA samples are being relied on to link the suspects to the savage attack.
The four defendants are accused of convincing the woman and her male companion to board an off-duty bus after the pair had watched an evening movie at an upscale shopping mall. The police say the men then raped the woman, using a metal rod to inflict such horrific injuries that she died two weeks later at a Singapore hospital. The four adult defendants all face charges of gang rape, murder and kidnapping and are likely to face the death sentence if convicted.
The verdict in the trial of the juvenile is expected at the end of this month.