Del Horror: Juvenile court doubts 'minor' rapist's age claim

New Delhi, Jan 8: The debate over whether the sixth accused in the brutal Delhi gangrape case is a minor or not is still continuing. On Monday, Jan 7, the school principal of the juvenile accused in the Dec 16 gangrape case appeared before the juvenile court in response to its summons to help determine his exact age.

Sources said the juvenile court was not satisfied with the age-related documents presented by the principal of the school in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun and asked him to produce more documents related to the juvenile's age by Jan 15.

A total of six men brutally gangraped a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on Dec 16 last year. After his arrest, the six accused claimed that his age was under 18 years.

The sixth suspect, listed as a 17-year-old, was expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility. But police did not reveal juvenile's identity as it is against the law.

The Delhi Police on Thursday, Jan 3 filed a 1,000-page charge sheet in the brutal Delhi gangrape case in the Metropolitan Magistrate Surya Malik Grover's Court in Saket. The five accused, Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh and their accomplices Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur have been chargesheeted for the offences of murder, gangrape, attempt to murder, kidnapping, unnatural offences, dacoity, hurting in committing robbery, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy and common intention under the Indian Penal Code.

The sixth accused will be charged separately. His bone density is now being analysed to ascertain if the sixth accused is a juvenile or an adult. Delhi Police will wait for a bone report of the minor boy accused in the Delhi gangrape case to ascertain his age before filing a report with Juvenile Justice Board. Police sources said they will ask the Board to get the bone density test done as fast as possible to determine the age of the accused.

The boy had claimed that he is 17-year-old using his school certificate. However, police have refused to take the claim and sought for an ossification test to determine his age. Authorities have said they would push for the death penalty for the men.

The victim's father said he supported the death penalty. "The toughest and the harshest punishment should be given," he said, adding that he thought a new law should be named after his daughter.

OneIndia News