New Delhi:
The five men charged with the brutal gang-rape and murder of a student on a bus in Delhi were brought to court for the first time this morning after the police said forensic evidence links them to the heinous crime.
The sixth man who was on the bus, is a minor, and unless proven otherwise, he will be tried by a separate court for juveniles. A school certificate provided by him states he's 17. The maximum sentence a juvenile court can give to a minor is three years at a reform facility.
Last month, a 23-year-old student and her boyfriend were beaten with an iron rod, allegedly by the six men who have since been arrested for a crime that led to national protests and outrage. The couple was attacked after they boarded a bus. Amanat (NOT her real name) was then raped by the men after which the couple was thrown onto the road, battered and naked.
The principal of the minor's school will appear this afternoon before the Juvenile Justice Board. He is likely to be asked about the authenticity of the documents furnished by the minor to bolster his claim about his age.
Sources in the police say that of the six men who attacked the couple with unmitigated cruelty, the minor was the most vicious. They say he raped the student twice - once when she was unconscious.
According to the law, if school documents that establish a minor's age appear genuine, the juvenile should not be put through a medical test to confirm his age. The Delhi Police is reportedly keen for the minor to be put through a bone test to check his age.