A Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on Monday convicted a man, who was a minor when he had gang-raped a 24-year-old MBA student in 2009, and sent him to a reformation home for three years for rehabilitation.
A trial court had in February last year acquitted nine other adult accused in the case on the grounds that the identity of the real culprits could not be proved.
JJB presiding magistrate Arul Verma said the presence of the man, who was over 17 years of age at the time of the offence, at the scene of the occurrence has been established by overwhelming evidence and the witnesses have correctly identified him before the court.
The board, in its 100-page judgment, said the evidence of prosecution witnesses have been amply strengthened by medical and scientific evidence and recovery of incriminating articles from the juvenile.
Compensation for victim
The board allowed the man’s plea to suspend the sentence for a month to enable him to file an appeal against the judgement.
The JJB also asked the Uttar Pradesh authorities to take steps to pay compensation of more than ₹3 lakh to the victim.
It also ordered perjury proceedings against two defence witnesses for giving false testimony before it.
The prosecution had submitted that the incident took place on the evening of January 5, 2009, when the woman along with her male friend, was returning from a mall in their car, which was forcibly stopped by several youths who were on a motorcycle.
Brandishing cricket bats, four of the boys sat in the car and started beating the girl and her friend. They then pushed them to the back seat and drove the car to a secluded place near Garhi Chaukhandi. At the isolated place, their other associates also joined and 11 persons allegedly gangraped the girl.
A complaint was lodged with the Noida Police by the victim’s friend. One of the accused died during the trial.
The prosecution’s appeal against the trial court verdict is pending before the Delhi High Court.
