India police suspended in suspected new rape case

Four policemen have been suspended and a fifth transferred over the handling of a suspected new rape and murder case close to the Indian capital, Delhi.

The father of the alleged 21-year-old victim has told the BBC she was gang raped. Her body was found on Saturday.

Two men have been arrested and a third suspect is reported to have fled.

Meanwhile, five men are due to appear in court charged with the abduction, gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old last month, a case that shocked India.

The victim in the latest case was a factory employee in Noida, a suburb of Delhi.

She disappeared on Friday night while returning home from work, Indian media reported.

The woman's father complained that police initially failed to react when he reported her disappearance, suggesting instead that she had gone off with someone.

The case has triggered protests in Noida.

Fast-track court

News of the case came as the trial of five suspects in a gang rape that has sparked widespread anger in India was due to get under way in Delhi.

Prosecutors have said they have extensive forensic evidence against the suspects, who could face the death penalty if found guilty.

The five accused were named on Saturday as Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur.

Their trial is expected to take place in a newly formed fast-track court in the next few weeks.

A sixth person accused in connection with the attack, a teenager, will be dealt with by a juvenile justice board.

On 16 December the victim, a student, was raped for nearly an hour on a bus before she was dumped with a companion by the side of a road.

She later died of her injuries.

Protests have continued across India in the wake of the attack.

A demonstration in Delhi on Sunday included protesters who have been on hunger strike for more than a week.

Campaigners are calling for tougher rape laws and reforms to the police, who critics say often fail to file charges against accused attackers.

-BBC