Lawyers row force judge to hold trial in camera. In his first interview, the victim's friend, and only witness, talks about the incident, stressing the indifference of passersby and police.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - The trial of five of the six men accused of rape and murder in the case of a 23-year-old New Delhi woman will be held behind closed doors. The judge made the decision after the preliminary hearing was disrupted by a mob and lawyers had a verbal row after one offered to represent the five defendants. The lawyers' association in Saket District had in fact refused to defend the accused.

Ever since the attack took place, public reactions have been increasingly turning violent. This is in stark contrast to what the victim's friend said. As the only witness to the incident, he told TV station Zee News that at the time of the attack passersby were callous and indifferent to their plight.

Speaking about the attack, the young man said that, after they were eventually dumped naked on the side of the road, cars and two-wheelers drove by, but "no one stopped to help us".

It took police about 30 minutes to arrive. When they showed up, officers argued about jurisdiction and over lifting the woman into the ambulance, "failing to give us something to cover" themselves.

Card Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Bishops' Conference of India, said that the rape in New Delhi is an "example of the malaise of India" and reflects a "contempt for women" expressed in various forms: selective abortions, female foeticide, discrimination and exclusion from education and work.

In his view, this is the result of the "marginalisation of God" in human life, which calls for a radical change in the country.

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• gangrape
• trial
• preliminary
• hearing