Profiles of accused in India gang rape

Ram Singh

Singh made his living driving buses and is accused of being the ringleader in the attack on the student. He was found dead in Tihar Jail in Delhi in March. Police said he had hanged himself, but defence lawyers and his family say that he was murdered. A 33-year-old widower, he lived in a two-room shanty in the Ravi Dass slum in New Delhi with his mother, stepfather and brother, Mukesh.

Mukesh Singh

The younger brother of Ram Singh, Mukesh worked occasionally as a bus driver and cleaner. He is said to be in his early 20s. Mukesh denied all charges, saying he, not his brother, was driving the bus when the couple were picked up and that he did not assault them. His lawyer has claimed that Mukesh was abused and tortured in prison by authorities and jail inmates.

Vinay Sharma

A gym assistant who lived a few doors down from the Singh family, Sharma, 20, is the only one of the accused with a high school diploma. Sharma claimed he was not on the bus when the crime was committed and was at a music show instead. He also said he was abused in jail, showing up in court in April with his right hand in a cast. He said his arm had been broken to prevent him from sitting for an exam to qualify for university.

Akshay Thakur

Thakur, 28, worked as a helper on the bus. He was arrested on December 21 in the eastern state of Bihar. He has denied all charges.

Pawan Gupta

A 19-year-old fruit seller, Gupta claimed he was at the same music show as Sharma, who is a friend.

The juvenile

The sixth suspect, who was 17 at the time of the crime, cannot be identified because he was a juvenile at the time of the attack. He was convicted last month in a separate trial and ordered to serve three years in a correctional facility - the maximum sentence handed out to juveniles under India's justice system - minus the eight months he has spent in custody so far.