New Delhi, Sep 10

The verdict on the four accused in the Dec 16, 2012 gang rape, which sparked nationwide protests and nudged the central government into enacting a stringent anti-rape law, was deferred till 12.30 p.m. Tuesday.

Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna deferred the verdict, saying the judgement needs correction.

The court will Tuesday decide the fate of the four accused -- Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur -- after almost nine months of the brutal crime in which a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was gang raped in a moving bus.

The four accused were charged with gang rape, murder, attempt to murder, unnatural offences and destruction of evidence and dacoity among other offences. They face the maximum punishment of death if found guilty.

Another accused was found dead in a cell in Delhi's Tihar jail.

A juvenile involved in the crime was Aug 31 sent by the Juvenile Justice Board to a reform home for three years after it concluded that he was involved in rape and murder.

The incident occurred after the woman and her male companion boarded the bus in Munirka in south Delhi.

The six accused threw both of them out of the vehicle -- without clothes -- on the streets in the cold December night after committing the ghastly crime, police said.

The gang rape victim succumbed to her injuries Dec 29 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital, where she was airlifted for specialised treatment.

By:IANS

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