A teenager was sentenced to 3-years in juvenile detention(reform home) by a juvenile court in New Delhi on Saturday for the December gang rape of a trainee physiotherapist, the first verdict in a case that sparked debate over whether India is too soft on young offenders.
According to police, the 18-year-old and 5 other men lured the 23-year-old woman and her male friend onto a New Delhi bus where they repeatedly raped her and beat them both with a metal bar before dumping them on to a road.
The woman died in a Singapore hospital 2 weeks after the December 16 attack.
The case turned a global spotlight on the treatment of women in India, where police say a rape is reported every 20 minutes.
4 of the teenager’s co-accused are still on trial and face the death penalty if convicted.
A 5th accused, the alleged ring-leader, killed himself in his jail cell in March.
The teenager, who may not be named, was tried as a juvenile as he was 17 at the time of the attack.
The maximum penalty that could be imposed by the Juvenile Justice Board was three years.
In January, authorities ruled he was 17, citing school records, which shocked the victim’s family and others, clamouring for him to face the death penalty.
The family of the victim was distraught after hearing the verdict as a teary-eyed mother of the young girl said that this judgment would make other girls in the country more vulnerable to such brutalities.
The teenager pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges including rape, murder and robbery. His trial was held behind closed doors to protect his identity and media were barred from reporting on any details of the proceedings.
During his trial, he has been held at a juvenile detention facility for violent young offenders in Delhi and kept away from other inmates for his safety.
The youth left home when he was 11 and worked in a roadside eatery, his mother told Reuters in January.
In recent years he lived as a semi-vagrant, washing buses and collecting fares, according to a police report.
After he left his home, he never returned back. His mother said she thought he was dead until police arrested him in connection with the gang rape.
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