New Delhi:
In a Delhi court today, three of the six men accused of raping a young woman in a bus on Sunday night accepted they are guilty. The victim is in hospital fighting for her life.
"I admit to my crime. Hang me," said Vinay Sharma, who worked at a gym.
He was brought to court today along with two other men arrested for the rape - Vinay Sharma and Mukesh, the man who was driving the bus used in the attack that has shamed and incensed India. "We hit the boy but not the girl," said Vinay.
"I am ashamed. I have committed a committed a big crime," Pawan Gupta, a fruit-seller, said.
In addition to the three men who confessed today, the police has arrested Ram Singh. He was hired by a private operator to drive a bus used by a school. On Sunday night, he was off-duty and allowed his brother, Mukesh, to take the wheel. Along with four friends, they hit the road, offering the bus to commuters for Rs 10 fares.
Chartered buses are often used in Delhi to supplement public transport. A carpenter who boarded the bus was robbed of Rs 8,000. The bus dropped him off and then picked up a young couple who had just seen a movie.
Over the next hour, the six men then allegedly raped the 23-year-old woman and hit both her and her male companion with an iron rod.
Because the bus had tinted windows and curtains, it passed through police check points without being stopped, said Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in Parliament today.
Of the four men arrested so far, only one - Mukesh - has agreed to participate in an identification parade.