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Delhi gang rape: Verdict on juvenile accused due | Delhi gang rape: Verdict on juvenile accused due |
(about 1 hour later) | |
An Indian juvenile court is due to deliver its verdict on an 18-year-old accused of taking part in the fatal gang rape of a woman on bus in Delhi. | |
He is charged with rape, murder, destruction of evidence, and other crimes including kidnapping carried out while aged 17. | |
If convicted, he faces a maximum of three years in a reform facility. | If convicted, he faces a maximum of three years in a reform facility. |
He has denied the charges - as have four adults on trial at a specially convened fast-track court. | |
They face the death penalty. | |
A sixth suspect was found dead in jail. Prison officials have said they believe he hanged himself but defence lawyers and his family allege he was murdered. | |
If found guilty, the 18-year-old can be sent to a reform facility for up to three years. This would include the time he has spent while waiting for the verdict. | |
"The idea behind the provision is that three years is sufficient time to reform a child", Anant Kumar Asthana, a Delhi-based lawyer told the AFP news agency. | "The idea behind the provision is that three years is sufficient time to reform a child", Anant Kumar Asthana, a Delhi-based lawyer told the AFP news agency. |
However, many, including the family of the victim, had demanded that the teenager - who was six months short of becoming an adult at the time of the crime - should be treated as an adult and face the death penalty for his alleged crime. | |
A spokesperson for the ruling Congress party, Renuka Chowhary, said in January that "given the nature of the crime, the most gruesome and heinous way a crime is committed, it has to be revisited to see how we define the world juvenile". | A spokesperson for the ruling Congress party, Renuka Chowhary, said in January that "given the nature of the crime, the most gruesome and heinous way a crime is committed, it has to be revisited to see how we define the world juvenile". |
The brutal assault last December shocked India and sparked a debate over the treatment of women in the country. | |
In March, India passed a new bill containing harsher punishments, including the death penalty, for rapists. | In March, India passed a new bill containing harsher punishments, including the death penalty, for rapists. |
The victim, a physiotherapy student who cannot be named in India for legal reasons, and a male friend were attacked on a bus on 16 December. | The victim, a physiotherapy student who cannot be named in India for legal reasons, and a male friend were attacked on a bus on 16 December. |
Police said the assailants beat both of them, and then raped the woman. She suffered massive internal injuries and died nearly two weeks later. | Police said the assailants beat both of them, and then raped the woman. She suffered massive internal injuries and died nearly two weeks later. |