The juvenile convict in the Delhi gang-rape was sentenced to three years in reform home
The parents of the young medical student whose fatal gang-rape enraged and shook India want laws to be changed so that juvenile offenders are not automatically entitled to trials by special juvenile courts, where the maximum sentence in a rape case, for example, is three years in a reform home.
Based on the family's request, the Supreme Court will examine whether the judge handling serious crimes like rape and murder should have the discretion to assess the maturity of the offender and then decide whether the minor should be tried as an adult or a juvenile offender.
On December 16, the student was gang-raped on a moving bus in Delhi by five adults and a 17-year-old. One of the adults killed himself in jail; the four others have been given the death sentence.
The teen turned 18 during his trial by a juvenile court; he was given three years in a home for delinquents, but the time he spent there during the trial will count as part of his sentence.
That punishment, described by the young woman's parents as not severe enough given the scale of the crime, has ignited a debate around juvenile laws, and whether anyone over the age of 16 should be tried as an adult.
The Supreme Court will next hear the case on January 6; it has asked the government to explain its stand on the petition at that hearing.
The government is also reportedly preparing a note on changing the law so that offenders between 16 and 18 are no longer protected by the Juvenile Justice Act, for extreme crimes. (
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