Delhi rape: Chaos in court for first hearing

Scenes of chaos were the order of the day in the court of the judicial magistrate Namrata Aggarwal at Saket in South Delhi, before the five men, accused of the rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student, were brought in for the first time after being charge-sheeted.

A sixth man accused in the case is still being examined to find out whether he is still a minor, in which case he will be tried in juvenile court.

The decibel levels were high as lawyers in the small, tightly-packed courtroom, booed one of their own when he indicated he was willing to represent three of the accused. So unruly was the situation that the judge had to have the courtroom cleared before she could proceed. The media has already been excluded in the pre-trial stages of the case that shocked and repulsed a whole nation with its sheer, mindless brutality, bringing about concerted changes in everything, from the mindset of a largely patriarchal society to the Rape laws that are good but usually fail in their implementation.

Even as the trouble in the courtroom reached a crescendo, the five men were kept in a holding cell under police protection. The public prosecutor has already said it is possible that they face a security risk. In consequence, the fast track court set up to handle the case in the interest of justice will now also have to decide whether to hold the trial via video-conferencing, so that the men need never leave Tihar prison in Delhi, where they are currently incarcerated. As it is, they were kept under maximum security there as well since they are such hate targets even for the convicts inhabiting the prison.

Right now, the position with regard to legal representation is that three men, who will be represented most probably by the lawyer who was boo-ed down, will plead not guilty to the charges. Another two men have indicated that they will need legal representation to be appointed by the government. These two have also said they were willing to turn approvers in the case, but the police, who have put together nearly 1000 pages of documents in support of their charge-sheets, have said this is not necessary. Popular opinion is also against allowing the men to turn approvers because this is seen as a ploy to get off lightly.

To recap the incident itself, the paramedical student and a male friend boarded a bus which was on an unauthorized joyride, thinking it was a public bus. For an hour she was assaulted so brutally by five men inside the bus that 13 days later, she died in a Singapore hospital of general organ failure. So bad were her injuries that doctors had to remove practically all her intestines. The case generated enormous anger that brought people out on to the streets of the capital in huge numbers and a semi-riot situation developed that had the government, accused of treating violence against women lightly, running for cover.

The anger remains. What is still to be seen is whether this will translate into real change.

Listen to Carole Andrade’s report: