New Delhi, Jan 1 : As the nation continues to mourn the death of the 23-year-old girl gang-rape victim, Delhites welcomed the New Year on a sombre note demanding justice for the brave heart.

Several clubs including the Press Club of India and Delhi Gymkhana cancelled celebrations on the New Year''s Eve.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, the Indian Army and other top institutions also cancelled their plans to celebrate the New Year.

Several clubs, including the Press Club of India and Delhi Gymkhana, and a host of other five-star hotels cancelled their New Year revelries to express solidarity with the victim.

Meanwhile, undiscouraged by the cold weather, the anti-rape protesters today maintain their fight and demand death penalty for the accused involved in the December 16 gang rape.

Protests continue across the nation on the first day of 2013 with candlelight marches being planned. In most places, the people refrained from big-ticket celebrations as a mark of respect for the gang-rape victim.

Scores of protesters gathered at the Jantar Mantar here on the last day of 2012. They chanted slogans demanding the start of the trial process at the earliest and amendment of the current laws to improve the protection of women.

"There will be no New Year (celebrations) this year. As you know the incident that took place, the girl was raped. And it is an everyday practice in fact," said Ashok, who came here along with his two grand daughters.

His grand daughters drew many pictures calling for equal rights and an end to violence towards women.

Delhi Police had earlier on Saturday invoked murder charges against the six men allegedly involved in the gang-rape of the girl in a moving bus after she died in a Singapore hospital and decided to file the charge sheet in court on January 3.

Amid outpouring of anger and grief in the country, the body of the gang-rape victim was flown to New Delhi from Singapore early on Sunday morning and cremated within hours.

The girl was gang-raped and brutally assaulted allegedly by six men in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16 night. (ANI)