Summary The case is being held behind closed doors in a new "fast-track" court in the south of the city.
NEW DELHI: A lawyer for two defendants accused of the fatal gang-rape of a student on a New Delhi bus said Tuesday he would file a petition challenging an order preventing the media from reporting on the trial.
The case is being held behind closed doors in a new "fast-track" court in the south of the city where the judge has imposed the gagging order and warned lawyers who speak to the media that they could be guilty of contempt.
"I will be filing a petition for an open trial in the High Court this week," lawyer V.K Anand, who is acting for brothers Mukesh and Ram Singh, told AFP by telephone.
Meanwhile, scores of protesters gathered near India s Parliament on Tuesday demanding the death penalty for six men accused of the fatal gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi last month.
The protesters carried placards saying: "Give us Justice, Hang the Rapists," and shouted slogans before conducting a mock hanging of the men who are facing trial in a special court in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, India s Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a petition to move the trial out of New Delhi.
The petition, filed by a Delhi-based lawyer, argued that the men would not get a fair trial because of the charged atmosphere in New Delhi following the outcry over the rape and subsequent death of the woman.
The court declared the petition void because the lawyer who filed it was no longer representing one of the defendants.
Also Tuesday, the victim s family said it would appeal against a ruling by a juvenile court that one of the accused would be tried as a juvenile since he was under 18 when the attack took place.
The juvenile court s determination means the teenager he will face a maximum term of three years in a reform facility. If tried as an adult, he could face the death penalty if convicted.
The victim s father, who cannot be identified until the end of the trial because of a gag order, said a bone test should be conducted on the teenager to determine his age.
