NEW DELHI (AP) — A
bone test is being conducted to confirm the age of a juvenile suspect in
custody for the fatal assault and gang-rape of a young woman, while
prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the other five men arrested with him, police said Tuesday.
The six will be formally charged
in court on Thursday on accusations that they kidnapped, gang-raped and
murdered the 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the capital New Delhi on Dec. 16, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told reporters.
Media reports say some 30
witnesses have been gathered, and the charges have been detailed in a
document running into more than 1,000 pages.
Outraged Indians have been
demanding the death penalty for the six men, holding demonstrations
almost every day since the rape. Murder is punishable by death and rape
by life imprisonment. But juveniles — those below 18 years of age —
cannot be prosecuted for murder.
Another police officer
said a bone test is being conducted to determine if the youngest
suspect in the case is indeed a juvenile. If the test determines he is
18 years or older he will be treated as a legal adult, said the officer,
who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
disclose sensitive information.
The brutality of this case has made Indians confront the reality that
sexual violence is deeply entrenched in the society. Women face daily
harassment, from catcalls on streets and groping in buses to rapes.
Often police refuse to accept complaints by victims and even blame them
for inviting unwanted male attention by dressing provocatively.
Families too dissuade victims from coming forward in the belief that it
will ruin their reputations.
Activists hope that the savage
assault on the young woman, a physiotherapy student, will shake off the
taboo associated with sexual violence and make the authorities take such
cases more seriously.
The young woman and a male
companion were attacked when they got into an off-duty bus in southern
New Delhi to go back home. The six men, including the bus driver, took
turns to rape her and beat her with an iron bar which they also inserted
in her body causing severe injuries to her organs.
The woman, who has not been
identified, was airlifted to Singapore for emergency treatment but died
on Saturday. She was cremated in New Delhi on Sunday, and the ashes were
to be submerged in the holy river Ganges near her hometown in the
northern Uttar Pradesh state in accordance with Hindu customs.
Protesters and politicians from
across the spectrum called for a special session of Parliament to pass
new laws to increase punishments for rapists — including possible
chemical castration — and to set up fast-track courts to deal with rape
cases within 90 days.
Thousands of Indians have lit
candles, held prayer meetings and marched through various cities and
towns to express their grief and demand stronger protection for women
and the death penalty for rape, which is now punishable by a maximum of
life imprisonment. The protests continued on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Indian army and
navy canceled their New Year's Eve celebrations, as did Sonia Gandhi,
head of the ruling Congress party. Several hotels and clubs across the
capital also did not hold their usual parties.
No comments:
Post a Comment