The trial of five men accused over the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a bus in India is to be shifted to a special fast-track court.

Magistrate Namrita Aggarwal sent the case to the new court established to deal with crimes against women and set a hearing for Monday. A sixth suspect in the attack claims to be a juvenile.

The brutal rape of the 23-year-old student last month set off protests in New Delhi and sparked a debate about the treatment of women.

The woman and a male friend were dumped on the roadside. The woman later died in a Singapore hospital.

Authorities were eager to move the case to the new courts, designed to avoid the delays and corruption that plague much of India's legal system.

Lawyers for the five have said police mistreated their clients, beating them to force them to confess.