Eight-and-a-half months after a young paramedical student was gang-raped in a moving bus here, the first punishment was handed out when a juvenile court ruled that an 18-year-old, who was claimed by the police to be the ‘most brutal’ of all the six accused, be confined to a reform home for three years. The youth, who was then a minor but turned 18 in June, was not named. The first judgement in the case, however, left the family members of the victim angry, who said they wanted harsher punishment for him.
The maximum punishment that can be awarded under the Juvenile Justice Act in India is three years. The Juvenile Justice Board, presided over by Principal Magistrate Geetanjali Goel, pronounced the verdict and convicted the 18-year-old for gang rape, murder and other charges. The board, however, acquitted him of some of the charges for which he was booked. Details were not disclosed as media was not allowed inside the court. The minor was also acquitted from attempt to murder charges of victims’ male friend and the sole eye witness of the case.
The prosecution has called the minor, as the ‘most brutal of the six’. He was the one who had called the victim and her male friend to the bus on Dec 16 night by giving them wrong information. He along with five other men had gangraped the girl in the moving bus and had then thrown both of them out – without clothes – on the streets in the cold December night.
The police had said that apart from sexually assaulting the 23-year-old physiotherapist trainee, the minor had also ripped out her internal organs with a rod. The girl died later. The brutal gang rape sparked massive protests in New Delhi and other cities, with people demanding death for the accused persons. The board refused to reveal all the charges for which the minor accused had been convicted and acquitted. After the order was announced, the victims entire family – father, mother and two brothers – said they were happy.
‘We are not satisfied with the verdict,’ the victim’s mother said with tears in her eyes. ‘If minors do such things and get away so easily, how will the law work? It cannot be done like this. We will move the higher court against the judgment,’ she said.
The father of victim also expressed his dissatisfaction over the verdict. ‘Our daughter has died and now after listening to this verdict we also have virtually died. This will only encourage the crime,’ the father said. ‘I was hoping that the juvenile accused will be given life imprisonment, but he was given only three years (in special home,’ said the victim’s father. ‘The court by giving a lighter punishment of three years has actually encouraged the other juveniles to commit crime. The law must be changed.
The board also said that a period of around eight months that the minor has spent in juvenile observation home will be deducted from his punishment of three years in the special or reform home. The minor’s lawyer said his conduct at special home will be observed and the sentence would be reviewed. ‘The board will observe his conduct during his stay in reform home and can review its sentence order and there is a possibility that he could come out early,’ Rajesh Tiwari, advocate of juvenile, told reporters. As the gang rape had hit international headlines and raised concerns about women’s safety in the country, the area around the board was packed with media persons, onlookers and activists. More than 150 media persons from national and international newspapers and television channels had gathered from early morning to cover the case.
The board was to pronounce its verdict at 10 a.m. in the morning but it came only at 3.30 p.m.
After the order was pronounced, some protestors raised slogans outside the board and sought death penalty for the minor.
Shouting ‘hang the rapist’, the protesters expressed their displeasure on the ‘lighter punishment’ they thought the minor has got.
But child rights activists said the minor should get a chance to re-integrate with society.
Shireen Vakil Miller, director of Save the Children, said: ‘The most important step is to ensure that there is a comprehensive rehabilitation package for the juvenile that includes counseling, and a provision for vocational training. This would help the juvenile to re-integrate into the society once he has completed his sentence.’
A native of Uttar Pradesh, the minor had moved to Delhi at the age of 11 and was doing odd jobs. He was arrested after the incident from Anand Vihar in east Delhi as he was trying to flee to his village in Uttar Pradesh.
Six people, including the minor, were arrested in the case. While accused Ram Singh, Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur faced trial in fast track court in Saket in south Delhi, the juvenile’s case was heard by the board.
The case against Ram Singh was dropped after he was found dead, hanging in his cell in Tihar Jail.
Meanwhile, a special fast-track court dealing with the trial of the four men accused in the case is hearing the closing arguments and the verdict is expected soon. The fact that the juvenile gets only three years in a reform facility will surely cause outrage but that’s the maximum penalty for juveniles but the SC ruled that there was no question of reducing the juvenile age.
The reason behind this is that the age of juvenile in India is set at 18 years by the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 to conform to the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. This would mean that all juvenile offences would be tried by the Juvenile Justice Board and not the regular courts. This is done because juvenile criminals were often treated as harshly as adults and would turn into hardened criminals. This act looked to end child labour, reform marriageable age and improve the lives of children throughout the country. The act was passed only after consulting psychologists, legal experts and others but it seems that it has failed us badly. The law left many loopholes which would be exploited time and again. (Is it time to change our juvenile laws?)
While the SC has considered a PIL where the plea is to grant discretionary powers to trial judges to transfer a minor’s case to regular courts after considering the nature of the crime, civil and child rights activists warn of repercussions if the law is modified. ‘Sending to prison minors who commit crimes because of the circumstances they grow up in would only turn them into hardened criminal,’ Flavia Agnes of Majlis told TOI. ‘It is no solution to reduce crimes against women. We must examine the issue dispassionately and be kinder as a society and considerate towards children.’
Delhi Gang Rape Timeline
Dec 16: A 23-year-old physiotherapy student is brutally raped in a bus in Delhi. Victim admitted to Safdarjung Hospital by the police.
Dec 17: Bus driver Ram Singh and two others arrested.
Dec 18: Public sentiment boils over leading to huge demonstrations as protesters clash with police at various places. Fourth accused arrested.
Dec 19: Doctors treating the girl comment about her unstable condition though she manages to communicate with docs by writing.
Dec 20: Students of various universities protest outside CM Sheila Dixit’s residence
Dec 21: The fifth accused, a juvenile is arrested and one of the culprits is identified by the victim’s male friend in Tihar. Delhi Police starts search operation in Haryana and Bihar for another accused. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital chairman offers victim free intestinal transplant, an offer which is considered a publicity stunt by many since the victim’s not stable enough for one
Dec 23: Delhi High Court sets up fast track court
Dec 24: PM Manmohan Singh requests people to keep calm and suffers a major faux paus as he’s heard off-camera asking people Thik Hai?
Dec 26: Government decides to fly victim to Singapore for further treatment which raises questions about whether she would survive the journey and why she wasn’t taken to a better facility in Delhi like AIIMS which is just around the corner.
Dec 27: She’s airlifted to Singapore
Dec 29: She succumbs to her injuries at 4:45 AM
Dec 30: Her body is flown back to Delhi
Jan 1: Special task-force to deal with women’s safety in Delhi icreated
Jan 3: A case of rape, murder, kidnapping, destruction of evidence, and attempted murder on the male victim is filed against all the five accused in the case.
Jan 5: Her friend gives an interview to Zee News which documents their ordeal including public and police apathy to their plight
Jan 9: The accused demand legal representation; lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma fights their case
Jan 10: Sharma declares victims were responsible for their predicament.
Jan 28: The Juvenile Justice Board declares that one of the six accused is a minor despite no strong evidence to suggest it. Age-testing is ruled out.
Feb 3: The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013, with suggestions from the Verma Committee Report introduced.
Feb 5: The trial starts
March 11: The main accused, Ram Singh is found hanging in his jail cell that he shared with two other accused.
April 4: One of the accused claims Tihar guards harassing him
April 11: Vinay’s counsel claims two of the accused were not present on the bus
May 1: Defence harasses male friend by claiming he’s a womaniser
May 10: Vinay and Akshay’s advocate AP Singh asks for male friend to undergo polygraph test
June 4: Juvenile accused turns 18 according to school certificate
July 11: Juvenile board defers judgement till July 25 to decide whether to try the minor in the case as an adult or a minor.
July 18: Supreme Court refuses to reduce the juvenile age to 16
August 31: Juvenile found guilty of rape and murder.
Delhi gang rape: Court finds juvenile guilty of rape and murder
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét