ADULT DEFENDANTS

Five days after the victim's death, on 3 January 2013, the police filed charges against the five adult men for rape, murder, kidnapping, destruction of evidence, and the attempted murder of the woman's male companion. Senior lawyer Dayan Krishnan was appointed as the special public prosecutor. Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta denied the charges. On 10 January, their lawyer, Manohar Lal Sharma, said in a media interview that the victims are responsible for the assault because they should not have been using public transportation and, as an unmarried couple, they should not have been on the streets at night. He went on to say: "Until today I have not seen a single incident or example of rape with a respected lady. Even an underworld don would not like to touch a girl with respect."[94] He also called the male victim "wholly responsible" for the incident because he "failed in his duty to protect the woman". The four surviving adult defendants went on trial in a fast-track court. The prosecution presented evidence including witness statements, the victim's statement, fingerprints, DNA testing, and dental modelling. It completed its case on 8 July.