<p>An accused in the December 16 gang-rape of a physiotherapy student here may escape with a lighter sentence, with a Juvenile Justice Board on Monday declaring him a minor on the basis of date of birth mentioned in his school certificate.<br /><br />“A school principal had filed a certificate available with a government-aided school in Uttar Pradesh, which mentioned his date of birth as June 4, 1995. <br /><br />It makes the accused 17 years and six months old at the time of the gang-rape. The JJB at Delhi Gate therefore declared him a juvenile,” lawyer Ishkaran Singh Bhandari said after the hearing before principal magistrate Geetanjali Goel.</p>.<p>The accused may either walk free after attaining 18 years of age or face a maximum sentence of three years at a special home.<br /><br />The certificate was presented before the JJB by the principal of a school at the Bhawanipur Khalli village in Budaun district on January 15. The boy is believed to have studied there till class III.<br /><br />Another lawyer Supriya Manan said the board ruled out conducting a bone density test to scientifically assert the age of the accused citing existing laws. “According to the law, a bone ossification test is conducted in absence of any school certificate or if there were doubts in the birth certificate and school certificate,” she said.<br /><br />Both Bhandari and Manan said they will approach a higher court after holding discussions with lawyers and Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy. “We will approach a higher court as the Juvenile Justice Act is not for heinous crimes like this gang-rape,” Bhandari said.<br /><br />Swamy had earlier filed a petition, seeking stern action against the juvenile on the grounds that his act was brutal in nature. The board had dismissed the plea.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the 23-year-old victim’s family expressed disappointment over the JJB’s decision and demanded a bone ossification test. School records could be incorrect as parents often manipulate the certificates, they claimed. The family has also decided to approach a higher court or take to the streets to demand justice.<br /><br />“Why has the board not allowed a bone ossification test? It would have made things clear. The admission documents are mostly incorrect. Many parents lower the ages of their children at the time of admissions,” the victim’s brother said. “If things did not go on the right direction, we may be forced to protest at Jantar Mantar.”<br /><br />Two separate cases were lodged against the minor with the Vasant Vihar police station - one for the involvement in the gang-rape and another for kidnapping and robbing carpenter Ramadhar Singh. At present, he is lodged in a juvenile home, while five other accused are in Tihar Jail and being prosecuted in the Saket fast-track court.<br /></p>
<p>An accused in the December 16 gang-rape of a physiotherapy student here may escape with a lighter sentence, with a Juvenile Justice Board on Monday declaring him a minor on the basis of date of birth mentioned in his school certificate.<br /><br />“A school principal had filed a certificate available with a government-aided school in Uttar Pradesh, which mentioned his date of birth as June 4, 1995. <br /><br />It makes the accused 17 years and six months old at the time of the gang-rape. The JJB at Delhi Gate therefore declared him a juvenile,” lawyer Ishkaran Singh Bhandari said after the hearing before principal magistrate Geetanjali Goel.</p>.<p>The accused may either walk free after attaining 18 years of age or face a maximum sentence of three years at a special home.<br /><br />The certificate was presented before the JJB by the principal of a school at the Bhawanipur Khalli village in Budaun district on January 15. The boy is believed to have studied there till class III.<br /><br />Another lawyer Supriya Manan said the board ruled out conducting a bone density test to scientifically assert the age of the accused citing existing laws. “According to the law, a bone ossification test is conducted in absence of any school certificate or if there were doubts in the birth certificate and school certificate,” she said.<br /><br />Both Bhandari and Manan said they will approach a higher court after holding discussions with lawyers and Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy. “We will approach a higher court as the Juvenile Justice Act is not for heinous crimes like this gang-rape,” Bhandari said.<br /><br />Swamy had earlier filed a petition, seeking stern action against the juvenile on the grounds that his act was brutal in nature. The board had dismissed the plea.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the 23-year-old victim’s family expressed disappointment over the JJB’s decision and demanded a bone ossification test. School records could be incorrect as parents often manipulate the certificates, they claimed. The family has also decided to approach a higher court or take to the streets to demand justice.<br /><br />“Why has the board not allowed a bone ossification test? It would have made things clear. The admission documents are mostly incorrect. Many parents lower the ages of their children at the time of admissions,” the victim’s brother said. “If things did not go on the right direction, we may be forced to protest at Jantar Mantar.”<br /><br />Two separate cases were lodged against the minor with the Vasant Vihar police station - one for the involvement in the gang-rape and another for kidnapping and robbing carpenter Ramadhar Singh. At present, he is lodged in a juvenile home, while five other accused are in Tihar Jail and being prosecuted in the Saket fast-track court.<br /></p>
