Police try to stop supporters of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party as they march towards the residence of the chief of India's ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, during a protest rally in New Delhi on April 21, 2013.
Thu Jul 25, 2013 12:51PM GMT
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An Indian court has delayed a ruling against a teenager allegedly involved in last year’s gang-rape of a student, which led to her death.
Officials say the verdict which was expected to be handed down on Thursday has been adjourned until August 5.
The delay is due to a challenge pending in the Supreme Court seeking to change the legal definition of a juvenile. The teenager has pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, he can be sent to a correctional facility for a maximum three-year term.
He and five other men are accused of beating and raping a 23-year-old medical student on a moving bus back in December last year. The victim later died of internal injuries. The horrific nature of the crime shocked Indians and sparked mass protests across the country.
The victim’s family recently called on the court to try the teenager as an adult, alongside five other men initially arrested and put on trial following the assault.
“He committed the worst crime and even if he is a minor, the accused should not be allowed to walk free after three years,” the victim’s father said.
The five males and the juvenile were charged with murder, rape, kidnap, robbery and conspiracy. However, one of the adults died while in prison from a suspected suicide in March.
The four adults, on trial in a separate court, face a maximum death penalty if convicted.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is raped every 20 minutes in the world’s second-most-populous country.
JR/KA
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