New Delhi:
The father of the 23-year-old student who was gang-raped on a moving bus in Delhi last month is distraught that one of the six men accused of murdering his daughter has been accepted as a juvenile offender and says it will be a crime to let him go unpunished.
"The punishment should not be less even if he is a juvenile. They all deserve the same punishment. They all should be hanged," he said, soon after he learnt that the Juvenile Justice Board had accepted as authentic a school certificate that declares the man's age as 17 years and six months.
The family, he said, would appeal in a higher court against the verdict. "Right now it's like we've been given an electric shock; but we can't allow an electric shock to kill us. It will be a crime to let a man who committed such a heinous crime go scot free. We will go to court and appeal. We will do whatever we have to," said the father of 'Amanat' (NOT her real name).
Because the accused has been recognised as under-18, he will be tried separately from the five other men, who are accused of gang-rape and murder. As a minor, he would not even be sent to jail; if found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of three years in a reform or correction facility. He turns 18 in June, according to the certificate that the board has accepted.
The student's family is not convinced. It also wants a medical test to conclusively prove that the man is a minor. The Delhi Police had appealed to the juvenile justice board to allow a bone ossification test, but the board's acceptance of the school certificate automatically rejects that. If the board accepts a certificate as authentic proof that an accused is juvenile, a bone test cannot be done. The prosecution too said yesterday that it would appeal against the board's decision in a higher court.
The police has described the juvenile accused as "an equal participant in the crime" in its report submitted to the board. Its chargesheet describes him as the most depraved among the six men who tortured the student. He raped the student twice, once when she was unconscious, the police has said.
The brother of the young woman pointed out that the man accepted as a teenager had persuaded the student and her boyfriend to board a bus by promising them it was headed in the direction of her home. "The family is not ready to accept that the sixth accused get anything less than the death penalty," he said.
There is much consternation among family's neighbours in Delhi too that a legality could see the accused get much lighter punishment. "A five or a seven year old can be called underage. You are not underage at 17, you know what you are doing. He must be punished," said one.
If convicted, the other five men who are being tried at a special fast-track court in Delhi could face life imprisonment or even the death penalty. One of these men, Vinay Sharma a gym assistant, had also claimed that he is under 18, but the fast-track court rejected that petition yesterday. His lawyer too plans to appeal in a higher court.
The vehicle that the woman was raped and brutally tortured in was a school bus which had been taken out for a spin by the odd-duty driver and five of his friends. They pretended they were running the sort of charter bus that is an integral part of public transport in Delhi.
The police says the student and her boyfriend were hit savagely by the six men who soon took turns raping 'Amanat'. The magnitude of the assault shook the country, triggering fiery protests demanding better policing for women and a review of laws that deal with sexual offenders.