"They will plead not guilty to all charges," ML Sharma, who says he represents Mukesh Singh and Akshay Thakur, told AFP. "Nothing has been proven yet."
Mukesh Singh, who is the brother of the alleged bus driver Ram Singh, and labourer Thakur are two of the five charged with rape and murder over the December 16 attack on the young student, which has fuelled protest demonstrations across India.
A sixth accused, who is 17, is to be tried in a separate court for juveniles.
Officials at Tihar jail, the maximum security prison where the accused are held, confirmed that Sharma had met the two defendants Tuesday.
Prosecutors have said they have evidence of bloodstains linking the men to the attack. But the advocate said he would challenge the police over their handling of evidence, while refusing to give details.
The next hearing, to be held behind closed doors, has been scheduled for Thursday when a magistrate is expected to transfer the case for trial in a special fast-track court.
It is not yet clear who will represent the three other defendants, all residents of New Delhi slums aged from 19 to 35.
A legal officer working at Delhi's Juvenile Justice Board, who declined to give his name, told AFP that the case of the sixth suspect would be heard on 15 January, when his age would be clarified.
"The age of the accused is not in proper order so the court asked the principal of (the) teenage accused's school to come along with age-related documents of the minor," he said.
The brutal attack on a medical student and her boyfriend has stirred nationwide anger in India, with politicians and the victim's family calling for the death penalty for the culprits.
The pair had been to watch a film when they were lured onto a bus. The gang are accused of repeatedly raping and violating the woman with an iron bar, causing horrific internal injuries.
Although gang-rapes are commonplace in India, the case has touched a nerve, leading to three weeks of sweeping introspection on the country's attitudes to women, its often insensitive police force and dysfunctional justice system.
In a series of protests across Indian cities, demonstrators condemned the recent surge in violence against women and the apparent lack of political will to address the country's growing rape crisis.
COMMENTS (8)
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@Khan: "...we as humans should step up and join hands to stop this from happening to our fellow female citizens. " Yes and we, also as humans, say that: 1. making living, breathing women wear a coffin whenever they venture out is suffocating, atrocious and abominable and an affront to their humanity as God-given as it is to Muslim men, 2. stoning women to death after burying them to their neck is cruel and beastly, 3. allowing a 90 year old beard marry a 15 year old baby is simply abhorrent, 4. trespassing on the dignity of a woman by forcing her into a harem of four is tragic and condemnable, 5. not letting a woman to rise to her full potential as a full and equal human being shows a severely constricted mindset of an insufferable bully, 6 ... 7...
Would you like to join hands to stop those from happening? I don't think so. You cannot pick and chose. There is no joining of hands across 14 centuries of dark, obstinate obscurantism, my friend! All the rest of us have given up on you!
Why is everyone here so obsessed with India and Pakistan. Please somebody knock some sense into these people because the issue here is not about India or Pakistan. It is about these horrific incidents taking place in both countries and we as humans should step up and join hands to stop this from happening to our fellow female citizens. Women, regardless of being from India or Pakistan, should be highly respected and protected from these monsters and an environment should be created whereby women from both countries feel safe and can roam around freely to do whatever they chose in life. Please grow up guys and stop fighting over meaningless things and focus on the core issues. Its an embarrassment that our region scores so poorly on women safety and we are ranked among the top in worst place to be born as a female. Please for the sake of our mothers, sisters and daughters make it a better place for them to live. I hope justice is given to the victim and a precedent set to deter such incidents in future. Ameen
@Freeman: we all know what is happening in pakistan.
@indian: @BruteForce: You both get a life. This news is not about Pakistan. Its about indian dirty culture specially Rape Capital of India. Before you point you fingers to other first correct your own home.
@indian:
Doesn't matter. India matters. Pakistan doesn't.
What lady will report a rape when the law in Pakistan says she has to produce 4 Muslim Male witnesses, as if rapes happen in the middle of crowded streets? She'll be accused of adultery.
But, thats not the issue here.
The issue is the treatment of women in India and we are pretty pathetic at it. I am ashamed to say this but it is the truth. At least our established Judiciary will deliver justice, where as a society we have failed.
@indian: oh do shut up! can you just get your house in order first.
I think the friend with that girl is eye witness?