New Delhi: Six men brutally gangraped and murderously assaulted a 23-year-old paramedical student in a private bus on the roads of Delhi on the night of December 16, 2012. After committing the heinous crime they threw the girl and her male friend on the roads and fled.
The case sparked national outrage and protests with calls for stricter anti-rape laws and severe punishment. The police arrested the perpetrators soon and the government announced that the case will tried in a fast-track court.
The six men were Ram Singh, Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and a juvenile. All of them were charged with murder, gangrape, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy, dacoity, unnatural sex and common intent in the case.
Ram Singh:
Ram Singh, a migrant from Rajasthan, was the main accused and the driver of the bus in which the crime took place. He was the first to be arrested in the case.
Singh was 33 years old and lived in the slums of Ravi Dass colony RK Puram Sector 3 in South Delhi. According to his neighbours Singh was a school dropout and a known troublemaker. He used to get into fights in the area after his drinking sessions.
He was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Tihar Jail on March 11 and subsequently the case against him was dropped.
Mukesh Singh
Mukesh Singh, from Rajasthan, is the younger brother of Ram Singh and worked as a cleaner on the bus. The 20-year-old used to live with his brother in the Ravi Dass colony. According to the police, Mukesh was driving the bus when the Delhi braveheart and her male friend were lured into the bus.
He too joined the others in raping and hitting the braveheart and her friend with an iron rod.
Vinay Sharma
Another resident of Ravi Dass colony, the 20-year-old Vinay Sharma worked as a gym assistant and fitness trainer. He used to hang out with Ram Singh and Mukesh, and often went on a joyride in the bus.
He claimed that he was not involved in the gangrape and was actually attending a music function along with another convict Pawan Gupta when the crime is said to have taken place. He has completed his school education.
Akshay Thakur
Akshay Thakur is a school dropout and was arrested from his native village in Bihar. The 28-year-old was a helper on the bus and apart from committing rape, he also allegedly tried to destroy evidence by helping to wash the bus after the crime.
Thakur moved to Delhi from Bihar in 2011 and is said to be married and has a son. He had claimed that he had gone back to his village on December 15, a day before the braveheart was raped.
Pawan Gupta
Pawan Gupta is a 19-year-old fruit-seller. He too had claimed that he was not on the bus when the crime took place. He claimed that he had gone to attend a music function with another convict Vinay Sharma.
Gupta had allegedly consuming alcohol along with the others and then boarded the bus looking for some fun.
Convicted juvenile
The sixth suspect from Uttar Pradesh was a minor at the time of crime. He was 17 at the time of the crime and turned 18 during the trial.
He was found guilty of rape and murder and sentenced to three years in a correctional facility under the Juvenile Justice Act. He came to Delhi at the age of 11 and worked in roadside eatries before be became a cleaner an conductor.
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