The body of the Indian gang rape victim who died of her injuries in a Singapore hospital on Saturday lies in a coffin before beginning the journey home.

The 23-year-old medical student, who'd been brutally beaten, raped and thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi two weeks ago, had been flown to Singapore for specialised treatment on Thursday.

Six men arrested for the rape have now been charged with murder.

As India braced itself for more protests on Saturday, politicians lined up to pay tribute - and call for tougher anti-rape laws.

Head of India's ruling Congress Party Sonia Gandhi vowed she would not be forgotten.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF OF INDIA'S RULING CONGRESS PARTY, SONIA GANDHI, SAYING:

"Today, we pledge that she will get justice that her fight will not have been in vain."

Nitin Gadkari, head of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said the country needed to look inwards.

"It is time to bring about stricter police and judicial reforms, he added.

But outspoken BJP MP - and Sonia Gandhi's former sister-in-law, Maneka Gandhi - said she had no hope from the government.

"It will create a hue and cry for a few days," she says."Nothing has ever been done."

Prime MinisterManmohan Singh said in a statement he was deeply saddened by her death.

New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours.