Delhi gangrape case live: 3-year sentence is meagre, says Sushma Swaraj

9.15 pm: 3-year sentence is meagre, says Sushma Swaraj Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj today said the three-year sentence to the juvenile in the December 16 gangrape case here is “meagre” and that she will move a Private Member’s Bill for making punishment commensurate with offence whatever be the age of the offender. “Damini case verdict-the most cruel of them all has been let off with just three years sentence in the name of a juvenile. This meagre punishment of just three years does not do justice to Damini,” the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said on Twitter. - PTI

  5. 10 pm: Country wants life imprisonment for juvenile Reacting to the verdict, NCW Chief Mamata Sharma said the sentiment across the country is that the juvenile should be sentenced to at least life imprisonment. In December 2012, there were nationwide protests leading to the formulation of the  anti-rape law. 5.03 pm: How the 16 December gangrape case unfolded While the verdict in the juvenile case has been delivered by the Juvenile Justice Board, the main case involving the adult accused is still on in a fast-track court.   Click here for a timeline of the 16 December Delhi gangrape case. 2.30pm: JJB finds juvenile guilty of rape, murder In the first verdict that was delivered today on the 16 December 2012 gangrape and murder case in New Delhi, the Juvenile Justice Board said that the juvenile is guilty of both the crimes. The verdict comes after nine months of the crime. The board has also sentenced the juvenile for three years in a juvenile remand home, which is the maximum punishment as per law permitted. [caption id=“attachment_1075453” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The juvenile accused in the 16 December gangrape and murder of paramedical student, is escorted after he was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board in New Delhi on Saturday. PTI[/caption] The CNN-IBN reported that 11 sections of the Criminal Procedure Code were slapped against the juvenile. Reacting to the verdict, the defence lawyer told the media outside the board, “We will go through the judgement before commenting on it. If we are not satisfied we definitely go for appeal in a higher court.” The lawyer said that the prosecution has no option to go to higher courts as the maximum punishment has already been pronounced. “There is no option for the prosecution to go to a higher court. But the convict can appeal in a higher court,” he said. However, the victim’s mother expressed unhappiness on the judgement meted out by the juvenile board. “We will appeal in a higher court. The juveniles are encouraged to commit crimes. They are not giving protection to girls,” she told reporters. “Better they release him now than punish him for three years. It makes no difference for me. We sat here for the whole day without food and water and they gave only three years of punishment. We don’t agree to this judgement,” the mother said. The victim’s brother told the media that the family was extremely disappointed with the sentence. “What has happened is wrong. He has committed rape. We will try to explore all legal options to get him death penalty. This is not justice. My mother broke down when she heard the sentence. We wanted him to be given the death penalty,” the victim’s brother said. Reacting to the judgement, an emotional father of the victim said, “This is not justice. The law should be changed.” BJP leader Subramanian Swamy told CNN-IBN that the judgement is based on incomplete application of the law. “As the juvenile was emotionally and intellectually aware of what he was doing, he could have been treated as an adult and punished accordingly,” Swamy said. 11.21 am: Why treat him as a juvenile, questions victim’s mother “Since he committed such a big crime he will get punished. But it is sad for us that he would not get hanged since he is a juvenile. However, I would request the law to treat it as a special case and punish him severely. We would be hurt if he is let off alive. The court should give its verdict taking into account the gravity of the crime and his age. After all, he destroyed a life,” the victim’s mother told NDTV. 11.17am: Parents, police officials investigating the case arrive at the Juvenile Justice Board premises. The convict has also reached the court. Background Justice to the victim of the brutal gangrape and murder on 16 December last year in the National Capital, will get an inch closer today with the juvenile court likely to deliver its verdict on the under age convict. The Supreme Court on 22 August allowed the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) to deliver its verdict in the gangrape-cum-murder case involving a minor. The apex court also admitted a plea seeking fresh interpretation of the term ‘juvenile’ in the statute on the basis of mental and intellectual maturity of minor offenders instead of the age limit of 18 years while fixing their culpability. [caption id=“attachment_1074931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Protesting crime against women. PTI[/caption] Earlier, the apex court had said that the JJB be informed not to pronounce its verdict involving the juvenile, who was one of six persons who had allegedly brutally gangraped the girl in a moving bus here, till it decides the PIL. The girl died in a Singapore hospital on 29 December. On 19 August, the JJB, presided over by Principal Magistrate Geetanjali Goel, had postponed till 31 August the verdict for the fourth time since 11 July on the ground that a PIL had been filed in the Supreme Court.