A man who was convicted as a juvenile for his role in the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a woman in New Delhi bus can be released this weekend, an Indian court decided, rejecting an effort to keep him in detention beyond his original sentence.
The brutal assault on the 23-year-old physiotherapy student by a group of men sent shock waves across India, setting off fierce debate about the treatment of women.
Four men were sentenced to death for the attack, and fifth was found hanged in his cell before the trial began. The juvenile, who was 17 at the time of the assault, was tried separately and sentenced to three years in prison in 2013, angering protesters and the victim’s family who felt it was too lenient.
The Indian government has opposed his imminent release, expressing concern about his mental state and the rehabilitation plan for him. But the Delhi High Court on Friday refused to grant a petition for prolonged custody, government lawyer Anil Soni said.
“He will walk free on the streets again on Sunday because there’s no law at the moment to keep him in custody beyond three years,” Soni said. Indian law allows a maximum of three years in reform homes for juvenile convicts.
Victim’s mother: ‘Crime has won’
“Crime has won,” the victim’s mother, Asha Singh, said after the decision was announced. “Our efforts of three years have failed. We are very disappointed.”
The young man can’t be publicly identified under Indian law because he was convicted as a juvenile.
News organizations are also forbidden from reporting the names of victims of sexual assault in India. For years, the victim of the New Delhi gang-rape was often referred to publicly as “Nirbhaya,” which means “the fearless one” in Hindi.
But her mother recently identified her publicly as Jyoti Singh.
“Why should I hide her name? Why should I be ashamed of it?” Asha Singh told CNN this week. “Those who committed that heinous crime on her should feel ashamed. The makers of this administrative system should feel ashamed.”
