Delhi gangrape case: Victim's angry kin want death for juvenile

New Delhi: The Juvenile Justice Board today sentenced the juvenile accused in the Delhi gangrape case to three years of punishment at a juvenile remand home after he was found guilty of rape and murder in the 16 December 2012 incident. Three years is the maximum punishment that can be awared to a juvenile convict as per the existing provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act. However, speaking to the media outside the juvenile court, the victim’s mother said, “We are not at all happy with his verdict. Why did we have to wait this long for this verdict? I appealed to the judge to give him death penalty…we will appeal against this sentence.” [caption id=“attachment_1075561” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The juvenile held guilty in the Delhi gangrape case. PTI[/caption] 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.” Reacting to the judgement, an emotional father of the victim said,“This is not justice. The law should be changed.” According to legal experts the sentence by the Juvenile Justice Board can be appealed in a high court. The news of the verdict was met with slogans—“We want justice”, “Nabalik ko bhi phaansi do(Send the juvenile to the gallows)"—outside the court premises by a group of activists who called themselves 16 December Kranti. The media frenzy around case was evident from the massive turnout at the juvenile court of not just Indian media but also international TV, print and radio crews from US, UK Germany, Iran, Japan, France and China. A German TV channel reportedly flew in their crew from Singapore for the announcement. This is the first verdict in the Delhi gangrape case, where a 23-year-old and her friend were brutally attacked by six men on a moving bus on the night of 16 December. The gangrape victim succumbed to injuries two weeks later at a Singapore hospital amid massive public protests in the National Capital over the government’s inability to control rising crimes against women. Six people including a juvenile were charged by the Delhi Police of gangrape and murder. The juvenile was charged with multiple offences including gangrape, murder, kidnapping, robbery and destruction of evidence. The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) began its enquiry into the juvenile’s role crime in March and concluded its hearing on 5 July. The victim’s friend was among the six witnesses whose statements was recorded by the court. The juvenile had pleaded not guilty. He has been held guilty in a second case of robbery committed on a carpenter who had boarded the bus earlier that night. The verdict was expected to be delivered on 11 July but was postponed after the defence had submitted some clarifications regarding the role of the juvenile in the gangrape case. The verdict was further delayed following a petition filed in the Supreme Court seeking fresh interpretation of a “juvenile” based on “mental and intellectual maturity” and not on the basis of age. On 22 August, while admitting the petition, the Supreme Court gave JJB the go-ahead to deliver its verdict in this case. Under the Juvenile Justice Act , a juvenile in conflict with the law can be awarded a maximum sentence of three years during which he will be placed in a special home or a place of safety. The victim’s friend was not present at the juvenile court on Saturday. He didn’t respond to phone calls or text messages by Firstpost.  Speaking to Firstpost during an earlier interview , victim’s friend, who is a complainant in the case and was a prosecution witness in the inquiry, when asked what the verdict signified for him had said, “Justice should be like a role model. But I find that nothing in his case represents a landmark. Even if society, as child rights activists say, is responsible for making a criminal of a juvenile, then the society should be held accountable. A verdict behind closed doors or a bulletin on TV changes nothing. To me, this amounts to achieving nothing despite doing everything….if society is responsible, then it should be held accountable. What has been done to reform society? The courts should take that up as well. By holding everyone responsible no one is being held accountable. We are blaming everyone and punishing no one.” The trial of the other four accused (fifth accused Ram Singh was found dead in his prison cell on 11 March) which is being heard by a fast-track court is in its final stage now. The prosecution concluded its arguments on Monday (26 August) and the defence has begun its final arguments. A verdict is expected mid-September.