Rewari, Haryana:
The Juvenile Justice Board in Haryana's Rewari district has convicted a 23-year-old man of rape and abduction and sentenced him to serve at a cow shelter for six months. Board member Sunita Gupta has also ordered that his daily attendance be marked with the local superintendent of police.
The verdict comes six years after the board began proceedings against the youth, who was 17 years old when he committed the crime in 2007. He is charged with abducting and raping a girl from his village in Kosli in Haryana's Rewari district.
Dhanpati, the deputy superintendent of police, Kosli, said, "The case was filed seven years ago. Both the accused and the girl were minors when the incident took place. The man has been sentenced to work at a cow shelter for six months."
Naresh Chauhan, an advocate in Rewari called the decision a travesty and said, "This is not justice. The offender should get the punishment applicable to an adult, so that it serves as a deterrent to others."
This verdict comes at a time when a debate over the trial and punishment of juvenile offenders, involved in serious crimes, has been brought into sharp relief by the Delhi gang-rape case of December 16 last year.
One of the six men accused of assaulting and raping Amanat (NOT her real name) is a minor, and could get away with a maximum of three years in a juvenile reform facility if found guilty.