NEW DELHI, Jan 2: A gang of rapists who savagely assaulted a woman on a bus in New Delhi tried to run her over after the attack, reports said on Wednesday, citing a police account of the incident.

Her boyfriend, who was beaten up and thrown off the bus after the woman had been repeatedly raped, managed to pull her to safety just in time, police are set to allege in a 1,000-page charge-sheet to be presented in court on Thursday.

The 23-year-old medical student, whose ordeal last month has brought simmering anger about widespread sex crimes to the boil, bit three of her attackers as she attempted to fight them off, local newspapers and TV reports said.

These injuries on the suspects, as well as forensic evidence such as blood, semen and hair samples and the testimony of her injured boyfriend, are expected to form the main evidence against the accused, according to the reports and police sources.

Five men have been arrested and are expected on Thursday to formally face murder and rape charges in a fast-track court set up to try them.

A sixth suspect is believed to be 17 years old, meaning he would be tried in a juvenile court, and police are conducting bone tests to determine his age.

Lawyers at the Saket district court in south Delhi, where hearings are set to begin, said on Wednesday they would not defend the men, meaning that the government would have to appoint advocates for them.

“We have decided that no lawyer will stand up to defend the rape accused, as it would be immoral to defend the case,” Sanjay Kumar, a lawyer and member of the Saket District Bar Council, said.

Kumar said the 2,500 advocates at the court have decided to “stay away” to ensure “speedy justice”.

India’s Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Tuesday that the suspects risked the death penalty if found guilty, adding that the case against them appeared very strong.

The Times of India newspaper reported that the charge-sheet was likely to begin with details on how the driver of the private vehicle, who allegedly took part in the rape, got his group of friends together and set out for a joyride.

One of the charges against the accused relates to the destruction of evidence, the paper said, since the driver had tried to wash the bus and had burned the clothes that were snatched from the victim.

The woman died at the weekend after a 13-day struggle to survive injuries so grievous that her intestines had to be removed.

She also underwent three major surgeries and suffered a cardiac arrest before being flown to Singapore.

The brutality and horrific nature of the attack has led to protests in the capital and elsewhere, and has prompted calls for the death penalty for the rapists.

Several hundred people took part in a solidarity march for women on Wednesday organised by the Delhi government which ended at Rajghat, the memorial for slain independence hero Mahatma Gandhi.

Prayers were held for the victim, whose ashes were scattered in the river Ganges on Tuesday by her distraught family.—AFP