bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

An Indian court trying a teenager over the fatal gang-rape of a student last December on a bus in the capital delayed announcing the first verdict in the case on Thursday, lawyers said.
The juvenile court has finished hearing the case of the teenager, who was aged 17 at the time of the deadly assault which shocked India and sparked weeks of sometimes violent protests.
The verdict had been deferred from July 11 to July 25 and was again delayed on Thursday by principal magistrate Geetanjli Goel to August 5 because of a legal challenge.
“The reason is because there is a case pending in the Supreme Court,” defence lawyer Rajesh Tiwari told reporters outside.
Politician Subramanian Swamy, the head of the Janata Party, has filed a petition arguing that suspects aged over 16 who are accused of serious offences should be tried in adult courts.
The crime, which saw the 23-year-old victim die of internal injuries inflicted during the savage attack on a moving bus, generated widespread anger about endemic sex crime in India.
Public outrage and protests pushed parliament to pass a new law toughening sentences for rapists, while a round of public soul-searching sought to explain the rising tide of violence against women.
The trial of the adult suspects – one of whom died in jail from a suspected suicide in March – continues in a separate court but is expected to wrap up in the next few months.
The juvenile, a runaway who reportedly left home aged 11, can be sent to a correctional facility for a maximum three-year term, which will take into account the time he has already spent in custody.
The four remaining adults could face the death penalty if convicted.
The teenager, the youngest of six children according to his mother, was employed to clean the bus allegedly used for the attack and often slept rough or inside the vehicle, reports say.
He has denied any involvement in the crime.
The parents of the victim were present inside the small courtroom on Thursday.
They have called for the killers of their daughter to be hanged and have criticised what they see as the leniency of the juvenile justice system, which seeks to reform rather than punish criminals under 18.
A sentence of three years’ detention for the teenager would likely cause further public anger in India where the suspects, some of whom have been beaten up in jail, are hate figures.
About 60 journalists from the domestic and international media gathered outside the court on Thursday.
India’s legal system and police forces have faced intense scrutiny over their failure to curb violence against women following the Delhi gang-rape and other cases.
Reports of horrifying sexual assaults are still a daily feature of Indian newspapers and the number of recorded crimes against women has rocketed since the December 16 case.
One of the main consequences of the case, say campaigners, has been that women feel more emboldened to report crimes against them, while criticism of the police has made officers more sensitive when dealing with such cases.
A court in central India last week sentenced six men to life in prison for the gang-rape and robbery of a 39-year-old Swiss woman cyclist who was holidaying in the country in March.


Court again defers verdict in Delhi gang-rape case 

Indian policemen escort the juvenile accused (centre, in pink towel) in the December 2012 gang-rape of a student, into a police truck outside the juvenile court in New Delhi on Thursday. Photo: AFP 

First Delhi gang-rape verdict deferred 

Indian media representatives gather outside The Juvenile Justice Board building in New Delhi on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Hundreds of Indian women and men participate in a peace march in New Delhi to pay homage to the 23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim. Photo: EPA

Rape defendant’s death casts shadow on model jail

Relatives of Ram Singh, one of the six men accused of raping a student on a bus and found dead in Tihar Jail, transfer his body to an ambulance in New Delhi. Photo: Xinhua

Companion of India gang-rape victim identifies bus

Activists stand behind a memorial for the murdered gang rape victim in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: AFP 

News

Asia