The juvenile, who was part of a six-member gang led by Ram Singh in raping, robbing and murdering a 23-year-old paramedic on December 16, has been sentenced to three years in a correctional home subject to review, adjusted with the time he has already spent in the remand home.
The long-awaited judgement was delivered on Saturday by Principal Magistrate Geetanjali Goel. The JJB found the juvenile guilty of rape, murder and robbery and convicted him to three years in a correctional home. This is the first judgement in the December 16 gang-rape case that created nationwide outrage and forced the Union Government to bring Criminal law Amendment Bill-2013 and a slew of other measures for the safety of women in the country.
The younger brother of the gang-rape victim allegedly tried to attack the juvenile when he was awarded the sentence by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB). “When the judgement was being delivered by the JJB, the victim’s younger brother tried to attack the minor,” sources at the Board said.
They said the victim’s brother, who had been waiting for the Board’s decision since morning, suddenly lunged towards the juvenile and tried to slap him, after the order was pronounced. However, the boy was brought under control by those present inside the courtroom, including the prosecution, defence counsel and the victim's parents. As the news of the judgement spread, some protesters started shouting slogans outside the board and sought death penalty for the juvenile, IANS reported..
Shouting “Hang the rapist”, the protesters expressed displeasure over the “light punishment” given to the minor. Pihu Sharma, an undergraduate student of Delhi University, who was protesting outside the board, told IANS, “If a minor can rape or has the courage to rape then why give a different punishment to himIJ” “He was not a kid when he was raping the girl, he knew what he was doing. So why light punishment for himIJ We want justice for the girl and three years of (special home stay) is not justice.”
Arun Kumar, another protester, said, “This verdict will only encourage minors to do such crimes. They will have no fear in their minds while committing such crimes because they know they can get off easily.” “Something is needed to be done to stop such crimes in the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to the counsel of the juvenile, the JJ Board dictated its order in the presence of prosecution, defence and the family members of the victim and no other advocate or public person was allowed in side the courtroom. Rajesh Tiwari, the legal counsel for the juvenile said that he was convicted for murder, rape and robbery but he was not declared the most brutal. Juvenile, who was detained on December 18, was sent to JJB for trial after documents pertaining to his schooling were accepted. Earlier there was a controversy over declaring him a juvenile but the Board did so on the basis of school certificate on January 29. He has already spent eight months in custody during the inquiry which will be considered as period already served and would be subtracted from the three-year sentence, Tiwari added.
It would be pertinent to mention here that the JJ Board had on July 11 also convicted the juvenile, a cleaner on the bus in which the victim was raped that fateful night. The Board awarded him a sentence in the case of robbery but he has already undergone the sentence at the probation home for robbing Ramadhar, a carpenter, who had boarded the bus that fateful night and was thrown off it before the paramedic and her friend were assaulted.
The Delhi Police in its inquiry report submitted before the Board has charged him under 12 different Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including murder, gang-rape, kidnapping, dacoity, unnatural sex, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence. The Delhi Police had declared the juvenile most brutal among the six persons arrested in the case. But on Saturday the Station House Officer (SHO) of Vasant VIhar police station and the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case said that the juvenile was not the most brutal one. “He was not most brutal. He had not shoved the rod into the insides of the girl which caused her death. He was punished as per law,” Sharma said further.
The inquiry against juvenile, which has been started on February 28, was concluded on July 5 and the Board has reserved its order for July 11. On Saturday, the judgement was pronounced by the Principal Magistrate. It was deferred on three occasions since a petition was pending before the Supreme Court challenging the age of the juvenile.
The juvenile was involved with five others in the dastardly gang-rape of the hapless student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 20012. The victim later succumbed to her injuries in a Singapore hospital on December 29. Four other accused persons - Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Mukesh Singh - are being tried by a special fast track court in Saket and the hearing is expected to end soon with defence completing its argument. However, the trial against main accused Ram Singh was abated after he committed suicide in Tihar prison barracks on March 11.