New Delhi:
The teenager being tried for December's gang-rape on a moving bus in Delhi has been convicted of dacoity by a juveniles' court.
The Juvenile Justice Board today found him guilty of robbing a carpenter just before a 23-year-old student and her male friend boarded the bus near a South Delhi mall and were assaulted with an iron rod, allegedly by a group of six men including the minor, who was 17 at the time.
The couple was thrown onto the road after the young woman was raped. She died in a Singapore hospital two weeks later.
Amid massive street protests, a court in Delhi was assigned to handle the trial of the five adult men with daily hearings to ensure swift justice, a commitment made by the government. In March, the man described by the police as the ring-leader, Ram Singh, who usually drove the bus that was used in the attack, committed suicide at Delhi's Tihar Jail.
The four other men are also being tried for robbing the carpenter.
The juvenile will be sentenced on Thursday for that crime, said sources; on the same day, the Juvenile Justice Board is scheduled to rule on whether he participated in the gang-rape. He has denied the charges in earlier hearings.
If he is found guilty, he can be sent to a correctional facility for a maximum three-year term, which includes the time he has already spent in custody while waiting for the verdict.
The victim's family has led calls for the teenager to be tried as an adult.
The four men being tried by the fast-track court could face the death sentence if convicted of murder and rape.