Fast-track courts to hear rape cases on a daily basis from January 2

New Delhi: Delhi police say that the chargesheet against the six accused in the gang-rape case of December 16 - in which a 23-year-old medical student was gang-raped on a moving bus - will be filed within a week. The Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, D Murugesan, has confirmed to NDTV that five fast-track courts will start functioning in the first week of January 2013.

These courts will be notified as soon as the Delhi High Court opens after vacation on January 2. There will be day-to-day hearings of all rape cases, including the gang-rape incident, and there will be no adjournments. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit met the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today to discuss and finalize the setting up of fast-track courts to hear rape cases.

Agitations against the government's response to the horrific case and police excesses against protestors demanding justice for the victim and better security for women continue in New Delhi.

The Prime Minister made a brief televised statement this morning appealing for calm, but it has done little to reassure the public. Meanwhile, the condition of 'Amanat' (NOT her real name), the gang-rape survivor, continues to be critical but stable.