India: Juvenile likely to walk free in rape case

New Delhi: The juvenile convict in the infamous 2012 Nirbhaya rape and murder case may walk free on December 20 unless the Delhi High Court intervenes in support of the Central government’s concerns that he may have been radicalised.

Last week the court asked the Centre to furnish an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report on whether the he had really been radicalised during detention.

The court also issued a notice to the government seeking its response on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary Subramanian Swamy’s plea against the release of the juvenile, now aged 21, till it is “demonstrably assured” he has reformed and was not a menace to society.

“The juvenile is an animal and should be denied freedom. Also it is learnt that there is a report of the home ministry wherefrom it emerges that this juvenile has not reformed but has become worse, having been radicalised by association with another juveniles convicted of involvement in the 2011 Delhi high court blast. The Juvenile Justice Board should be given some teeth to deal with such a case of an unreformed juvenile criminal,” Swamy has said in the plea.

Rehabilitation

Meanwhile, the government is planning to seek extension of observation on home stay of the juvenile. It said that several mandatory requirements are missing from the post-release rehabilitation plan of the convict.

The Juvenile Justice Board had on August 31, 2013 sent him to a remand home for three years. The convict, then aged under 18, is said to have inflicted maximum injury on the 23-year-old paramedical student, Nirbhaya, who died 13 days later, triggering a massive public outrage.

Interestingly, Delhi government’s department of Women and Child Development (WCD) on Tuesday unveiled a rehabilitation plan for the juvenile, under which it will give him a one-time financial grant of Rs10,000 (Dh548) and arrange for a sewing machine so that he can rent a tailoring shop.

Financial support

“The juvenile in Nirbhaya case needs to be supported financially jointly by his parents and by the Delhi government,” the WCD department said in a report, adding that he needed help to sustain a business for at least six months.

Fearing that he might be a threat to the society, the rape victim’s parents have demanded that his mental condition be assessed before setting him free.

“We demand that he should not be allowed to walk free as he is a threat to the society. There is a need to assess his mental condition before releasing him, so that he does not attack some other girl, like he had killed our daughter,” the father of the victim said.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas also expressed concern over the issue saying, “I can only say that he will pose a danger to the society as he will be living among us.”

Also Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi, has expressed her dissatisfaction over the inadequate punishment laid out for the minor.

She said that the largest segment of people taking to crime in the country were people between the ages of 16 and 18. She felt that a child who was protected lawfully by the government would take to the crime repeatedly if not apprehended under criminal jurisdiction.