New Delhi, February 14, 2013- The Juvenile Justice Board will hear arguments for framing of charges against the juvenile accused in the Delhi gangrape case today.
The sixth accused, who has been declared a minor, was reportedly the most brutal and active during the horrific attack on the 23-year-old paramedic student, who later died of her injuries in a Singapore hospital. Sources say that the Delhi Police, the investigating agency in the case, had filed a supplementary chargesheet against the minor during the last hearing of the case.
As per Indian laws pertaining to juveniles, the minor can be given a maximum punishment of three years in a reform institution if he is convicted in the case.
The trial of the other five main accused in the gangrape case began last week after the Delhi Police filed a supplementary chargesheet including the post-mortem and forensic reports.
The victim’s 28-year-old male friend, who was present during the attack, has already testified as a key witness in the case. However, the defence counsel is yet to cross examine him.
Earlier, two Safdarjung Hospital doctors, who were part of the team that treated last year’s Dec 16 gang-rape victim, testified in a Delhi court Tuesday. They were also cross-examined by defence counsel.
The fast track court of Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna also recorded the statements of two magistrates, who were part of the judicial proceedings relating to the identification of the accused.
Statements were also noted by the court for identifying the stolen articles of the victim and her male friend, who were attacked in a moving bus in south Delhi.
The 28-year-old male friend of the victim who was gang-rapped by five men and a juvenile is expected to be cross-examined by the defence Feb 15.
He will be cross-examined by counsel for accused bus driver Ram Singh and co-accused Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Singh.
The court has prepared a list of 39 prosecution witnesses, including the victim’s male friend for examining them by Feb 22.
The fast track court started day-to-day trial in the case after it framed charges of murder, gang-rape and kidnapping, among others, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against five of the six accused.
The court had earlier restricted media from reporting the proceedings in the case and ordered in-camera trial.
