Saturday 31 August 2013

Delhi gang rape: Verdict due in juvenile case


Protest in Delhi
The gang rape led to widespread protests across India demanding government action

An Indian juvenile court is expected to deliver its verdict in the case of a teenager accused of taking part with a group of adults in the fatal gang rape of a woman on a Delhi bus.

He is charged with rape, murder, destroying evidence, and other crimes carried out while aged 17.

The teenager, who cannot be named, faces up to three years in a reform facility if convicted.

He has denied the charges, as have four men also on trial for the attack.

They face the death penalty. A fifth adult defendant was found dead in his cell in March and prison officials said they believed he hanged himself.

The gang rape of the 23-year-old woman last December caused uproar across India and triggered a national debate about the treatment of women.

The verdict in the case of the teenager - now aged 18 - has been deferred several times before.


He was six months short of becoming an adult at the time of the crime and many, including the family of the victim, have demanded that he should be treated as an adult and face the death penalty for his alleged crime.

Meanwhile, a special fast-track court dealing with the trial of the four men accused in the case has been hearing closing arguments.

A judge who has been hearing the case since the trial began in February is expected deliver his verdicts in mid-September.

In March, India passed a new bill containing harsher punishments, including the death penalty, for rapists.

Correspondents say the court hearings are being closely followed in India.

The victim, a physiotherapy student who also cannot be named for legal reasons, was with a male friend when she was attacked on a bus and thrown from the vehicle.

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