he youngest convict in the notorious 2012 Delhi gang rape case has been released from a correctional centre, his lawyer has told the BBC.
Legal challenges and protests from the victim's parents failed to prevent the release.
The rapist, who cannot be named as he was a minor at the time of the crime, was sentenced to a maximum three years in a reform facility in August 2013.
The rape and the subsequent death of the woman caused global outrage.
Although the convict is now an adult, he was tried as a juvenile and has served the full sentence allowed.
He has now been handed over to a charity, where he will remain because of fears over his safety.
Four adult convicts in the case are appealing against death sentences. A fifth died in prison.
Supreme Court
The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says the release has been opposed by many people, including the parents of the victim, who were prevented by police from carrying out a protest rally in central Delhi earlier on Sunday.
The convict's identity is being changed and no record of his crime will remain in the public domain, a move that has caused more outrage among many in India, our correspondent says.
A legal challenge by politician Subramanian Swamy to stop the release failed.
A court ruled on the case on Friday, saying: "We agree it is a serious issue. But after 20 December, the juvenile cannot be kept at a special home per law."
Late on Saturday, Swati Maliwal, the head of Delhi Commission of Women, filed a petition to the Supreme Court trying to prevent the release.
It will hear the case on Monday, but the release went ahead anyway.
Rape victims cannot be named under Indian law, but last week the victim's motherrevealed it at a public rally.
Our correspondent says the laws dealing with sex crimes in India have been strengthened since this case began, but many believe this has not been enough to prevent attacks against women.
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