The family of the Delhi gangrapevictim has expressed their disappointment over the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) declaring the sixth accused in the case as a minor, and said they will approach a higher court to demand justice.
The JJB relied on the birth certificate and school documents of the accused to determine his age. As per the records, his age was 17 years, six months and 11 days on December 16, 2012, when he allegedly committed the crime.
It also rejected the Delhi Police's plea for a bone ossification testof the accused. The board's ruling on Monday could enable the accused - who was described as the most brutal of the six accused by the Delhi Police - to walk free by June this year.
"Why has the board not allowed the bone ossification test? It would have made things clear. The admission documents are mostly incorrect. Many parents record the age of their children lesser than the actual age at the time of admissions," said a brother of the 23-year-old victim.
"How can we rely on a certificate issued by a village school when the chances of manipulating it are so high," he asked. He said the family will take the matter to a higher court, adding that if things do not go in the right direction "we may be forced to protest at Jantar Mantar".
Section 15 (g) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act mandates that a juvenile aged between 16-18 years if convicted of any offence can be sentenced to be sent to a special home for a maximum period of three years, and, thereafter, be released on probation. However, Section 16 also provides that a juvenile can only be kept at the special home till he attains 18 years of age and he cannot be sent to jail thereafter.
A former principal of the school in Bhawanipur in UP's Badaun, in which the accused studied till Class III, appeared before the JJB and claimed that the boy's father had mentioned his date of birth as June 4, 1995. The juvenile was among the six accused who allegedly assaulted and gangraped the 23-year-old paramedic in a moving chartered bus. The girl died on December 29 in Singapore, where she was airlifted by the government in a bid to save her.
Five other accused - Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur - have been charged with the offences of murder, gang rape, attempt to murder, kidnapping, unnatural offences, dacoity, hurting while committing robbery, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy and common intention under the IPC.
The lawyers, who had filed the petition that the accused should not be treated as a juvenile because of the nature of crime he committed, said that they would approach a higher court to plead their case.
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