Amanat case: Subramanian Swamy corners juvenile in Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 23: Janata Party supremo Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday, Jan 23 placed his argument before Juvenile Justice Board seeking to consider the sixth accused in the Delhi gangrape case as an adult. However, the board reserved the order till Thursday. The Janata Party chief tweeted, "Juvenile Board heard my arguments why "Raju" does not qualify to be included in the definition of juvenile vide u/s 83 IPC r/w Beijing Rules. Orders tomorrow at 4 pm." Showing the differences between the Juvenile Justice Act and the Indian Penal Code, Swamy also urged to intervene in the case. While the Penal Code says its 12, the Juvenile Act terms those above 18 as adults. Meanwhile, Vinay Sharma, another accused of the Delhi gangrape (Amanat) case, claimed that he is also a juvenile. However, Delhi police have given Sharma's age as 20 in their charge-sheet. Sharma along with other four accused has been slapped with charges of kidnapping, gangrape, unnatural sex and murder. While Raju, the juvenile, cannot be tried in a regular court but by a juvenile justice board. Controversies over Juvenile Act in this country surfaced when 17-year-old accused of Delhi horror was not tried in the fast-track court. However, the victim's father earlier had quoted as saying, "The juvenile should be punished first...he was the one who lured my daughter into the bus and tortured her most mercilessly. He should be hanged like the other five accused." "All the six accused should never be allowed to step out of the jail...they must be hanged. They are a threat to every woman on the street," chided father of the 23-year-old paramedical student who was brutally raped by six men and later was thrown out of a moving bus on Dec 16. Many legal experts along with women panels, seniors lawyers believe that the prosecution age of minors should be brought down to 15 or 16, so that the sixth accused faces the trail. A recently released data by Home Ministry shows that over 33,000 juveniles - mostly between the age group of 16 to 18 - have been arrested for crimes like rape and murder across the country in 2011. OneIndia News

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