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DNA tests have linked five men with the gang rape and murder from last month that has caused outrage in India, a court in Delhi has heard.
The pre-trial hearing was held at the District Court in the Saket area of the Indian capital.
The judge ordered the five to appear before her on Monday. A sixth suspect is expected to be tried as a juvenile.
The woman, 23, died last weekend. Her friend has been recalling the harrowing details of the attack on a bus.
The man, who has not been named, told Zee News how he and the victim had boarded the bus and paid a fare, before he was beaten unconscious by men on board, who then attacked her.
Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan told Magistrate Namrita Aggarwal that DNA tests confirmed by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory had shown that blood stains found on the clothing of all of the accused had matched the blood of the victim.
Rajiv Mohan also cited records from the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, where the woman died, which said death was caused by septicemia and multiple-organ failure.
The five accused, aged between 19 and 35, are charged with rape, abduction and murder, and could face the death penalty if convicted. They include the driver of the bus.
The prosecutor also said items robbed from the victim had been recovered from the accused.
The magistrate said: “[The suspects] will be produced in court on Monday.”
DNA tests have linked five men with the gang rape and murder from last month that has caused outrage in India, a court in Delhi has heard
A following hearing was set for January 10.
Protesters gathered outside the court in Saket, carrying a banner demanding justice for the victim.
The friend of the woman who died has given his first interview since the incident.
The man, who has not been named, told Zee News he and the rape victim had boarded the bus after a trip to the cinema and after failing to flag down an auto-rickshaw.
He said the bus had tinted windows, and that he believed the group of men had laid a trap for them.
“We tried to resist them. Even my friend fought with them, she tried to save me,” he said.
“She tried to dial the police control room number 100, but the accused snatched her mobile away.
“I tried to fight against the men but later I begged them again and again to leave her.”
He confirmed earlier reports that the assailants had thrown them off the bus and tried to run them over.
The friend said he had tried to get help from passers-by and motorists.
“They slowed down, looked at our naked bodies and left,” he said.
And he also criticized the authorities, accusing them of being slow to arrive, then arguing over jurisdiction, and eventually taking them to the wrong hospital.
“My friend was bleeding profusely. But instead of taking us to a nearby hospital, they [police] took us to a hospital that was far away,” he said.
Delhi Police on Saturday denied its officers were late in arriving. A statement said the first vehicle had arrived within four minutes of the distress call, left the scene with the victims within another three minutes and reached Safdarjung Hospital within another 24.
The case continues to put Indian life under a sharp magnifying glass, and for many people it is uncomfortable viewing.
Meanwhile, police have opened an investigation into whether Zee News broke broadcasting laws relating to disclosure of the victim’s identity.
The victim’s friend was not named but his face was shown.
Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told AFP news agency that a case had been filed against the broadcaster.
The case has caused a national outcry, and there have been frequent protests calling for greater protection for women.
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The Indian woman who died after being gang-raped on a bus has been cremated in the capital, New Delhi.
The ceremony came hours after a plane chartered by the Indian government brought her body back to the city.
The 23-year-old medical student died in a Singapore hospital where she was being treated for severe injuries.
The attack sparked two weeks of protests about gender attitudes in India, and calls for changes to laws on rape and violence against women.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the head of India’s governing Congress party Sonia Gandhi were at the airport when the plane landed at about 04:15.
A convoy carrying a gold-colored coffin and the victim’s parents then drove towards the Janakpuri district of Delhi where she had been living.
The private funeral was held amid tight security.
The government has been heavily criticized for its response to the attack and remains anxious about a backlash, with police still cordoning off the heart of the capital to prevent demonstrations.
Sonia Gandhi has promised to fight what she called India’s shameful social mindsets that lie behind such crimes.
Six men arrested for the December 16 rape have been charged with murder. If convicted, they face the death penalty.
On Saturday evening, candlelit vigils were held across India to mourn the woman and express anger and sorrow at her death.
Large areas of Delhi were sealed off and hundreds of armed police and riot troops deployed as news of the victim’s death spread.
Protests continued in Delhi on Sunday, with a peaceful demonstration where people painted slogans and tributes on a large white canvas.
“This incident should open our eyes to the fact that we need to raise our children right, we need to raise the people right,” said protester and social worker Murphy John.
He said he did not agree with calls for the death penalty for convicted rapists, fearing it would encourage murder so victims could not report crimes.
The Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore said the woman “passed away peacefully” early on Saturday.
The Indian woman who died after being gang-raped on a bus has been cremated in New Delhi
Hospital chief executive Kelvin Loh said she had suffered severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain.
Indian PM Manmohan Singh said he was “very saddened” by the woman’s death, and that the angry public reaction was “perfectly understandable”.
He called on politicians and the public to set aside “narrow sectional interest” and work together to make India “a demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in”.
The woman – a medical student whose identity has not been released – and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area of Delhi, intending to travel to Dwarka in the south-west of the city.
Friends told the AFP news agency the couple were in a relationship and had been planning to marry in the next few weeks.
“They had made all the wedding preparations and had planned a wedding party in Delhi,” said her neighbor, Meera Rai.
According to the reports, the couple were attacked after the man objected to another group of men taunting her.
Police said the woman was raped for nearly an hour. Both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars then thrown out of the moving bus into the street.
The assault sparked angry protests about the general conditions for women in India, and about what is seen as an inadequate police response to rape allegations.
According to official figures, a woman is raped in Delhi every 14 hours, while women across the country say they are frequently subjected to sexual intimidation and violence.
Officials have since announced a series of measures intended to make the city safer for women.
These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.
But many of the protesters say that women are viewed as secondary citizens, and that a fundamental change in culture and attitudes, backed up by law, is needed to protect them.
UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon offered his condolences to the woman’s family, saying in a statement that he “utterly condemns this brutal crime”.
“Violence against women must never be accepted, never excused, never tolerated,” the statement said.
“Every girl and woman has the right to be respected, valued and protected.”
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The female student who was gang-raped on a bus in India’s capital Delhi has “taken a turn for the worse” at a Singapore hospital, doctors say.
The 23-year-old arrived in Singapore on Thursday after undergoing three operations in a Delhi hospital.
“Her vital signs are deteriorating with signs of severe organ failure,” hospital official Kelvin Loh said.
The attack earlier this month triggered violent public protests in India that left one police officer dead.
Six men have been arrested and two police officers have been suspended following the 16 December attack.
Doctors had earlier described the woman as “fighting for her life”.
Kelvin Loh said in a statement that the hospital had put her on “maximum artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well as stimulants which maximize her body’s capability to fight infections”.
The female student who was gang-raped on a bus in Delhi has taken a turn for the worse at a Singapore hospital
“Her family members have been informed that her condition has deteriorated and they are currently by her side to encourage and comfort her,” he said.
“The High Commission of India is with her and her family at this critical time. Our medical team continues to provide all possible treatment and care,” Kelvin Loh added.
On arrival at the hospital in Singapore, doctors said that as well as a “prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury”.
The government has tried to halt rising public anger by announcing a series of measures intended to make Delhi safer for women.
These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.
The government has also said that it will post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to shame them.
The victim and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area, intending to travel to Dwarka in south-west Delhi.
Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, and both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars and thrown out of the moving bus into a Delhi street.
India’s Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in a statement on Thursday that the government had decided to send the victim overseas on the recommendation of her doctors.
“Despite the best efforts of our doctors, the victim continues to be critical and her fluctuating health remains a big cause of concern to all of us,” he said.
