Delhi gang rape verdict for juvenile defendant deferred

A lawyer says an Indian juvenile court has delayed delivering its verdict until August 19 for one suspect in the fatal gang rape of a woman on a New Delhi bus. The delay is to allow India’s top court to hear a petition on the legal definition of a juvenile.

The verdict would have been the first handed down in the case.

Defence lawyer Rajesh Tiwari said on Monday that the Supreme Court had asked the Juvenile Board to hold the verdict.

The defendant was 17 at the time of the attack last December and is being tried as a minor on charges including murder and rape. He faces a maximum sentence of three years at a reform centre. Court rules forbid publishing his name even though he has turned 18.