The Juvenile Justice Board has held the minor, who is one of the six accused of raping a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus, guilty of illegally confining and robbing a carpenter on the fateful night of December 16.
According to sources, the JJB, presided over by Principal Magistrate Geetanjali Goel, has convicted the juvenile under Section 395 (dacoity), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 412 (dishonestly receiving property stolen in the commission of a dacoity) of the IPC. The minor, however, was acquitted under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person and 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the IPC, said sources.
The carpenter, Ramadhar boarded the same bus before the girl and her male friend boarded it in south Delhi. During the inquiry, the juvenile had denied all charges, claiming he was not a participant in the horrendous crime.
The Board will pronounce its sentence on July 25. It has fixed the same date for the final judgement in another case lodged against him for gangrape of a paramedical student in the same bus, the same night last year.
Besides the juvenile, the four adult accused — Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur — are also being tried by a special fast track court for robbing the carpenter besides gang raping the girl. However, proceedings against fifth and key accused Ram Singh abated after he was found dead in his cell in Tihar Jail on March 11.
During the trial, the juvenile's counsel had contended that there was no medical evidence to connect him with the charges and no fingerprints could be detected in the bus to show his complicity. Sources further said the juvenile was solely convicted relying on the testimony of Ramadhar, who appearing as a prosecution witness had identified the minor as one among the six who had robbed and assaulted him on the December 16 night.
Earlier, during recording of his deposition in the special court, Ramadhar had identified the four adult accused and stood by his statement that it was they who had committed the offence.
He had said he had boarded the bus for Khanpur but the moment one among the six people said that it will be going to some other destination, he tried to get off but the accused stopped him and asked Mukesh to drive it fast.
He had said that the accused were the same persons who had robbed and caused "injuries to me and later pushed in a manner that I would come under the wheels."