Legal experts say that the juvenile accused in the brutal December 16 gangrape case turning 18 will not have an impact on the judgment of the Juvenile Justice Board as he was a juvenile at the time of committing the offence. Also, as per law, any such detail, which will reveal the identity of the accused, should not be published so as to protect them from any kind of disqualification or stigma in the future.
The juvenile accused, who has been has described by the investigators as the “most brutal” turned 18 in May, five months after he and five other adult accused allegedly raped and murdered a 23-year-old paramedical student on the night of December 16 in a moving bus here last year. He will, however, be treated as an adult when the Juvenile Justice Board will pronounce its order on July 25.
If found in conflict with the law, the Juvenile Justice Board will call for a social investigation report and his individual care plan from the institution where he was placed and then decide the quantum of sentence based on these two documents.
According to the Juvenile Justice Act, the maximum punishment that the juvenile can face is that of three years during which he will be placed in a special home or a place of safety.
However, the issue whether to treat juveniles, who indulge into heinous crime such as murder and rape should be tried as adults or not has drawn attention in the recent past. “This issue has been raised before the apex court and it is going to decide the matter soon,” said a child right’s activist Anant Asthana.
He, however, added that the government should wake up and take responsibility to ensure that children do not get into crime.
Asked, whether the judgment of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) is likely to affect the trial pending in the fast track court against four adult co-accused, a senior lawyer, Rebecca John said, “The prosecution will have to prove individual roles of the accused in the case. Thus judgment is not likely to have much impact on the trial of the four adult accused. ”
Senior lawyer H.S. Phoolka, who is representing non-government organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan, in the Supreme Court said, “Society is also somewhere responsible. The accused is a victim of child abuse. He was working as a child labour for years and was living on his own. Demanding a separate law for trying juveniles indulging in serious offences is not a solution but government and the society should work together to improve the plight of the destitute children in the country.”