The highest court of India said they cannot extend the jail time of the convict in the Delhi gangrape case because he was a minor when the incident happened. The Indian law does not allow it and the even though the court understands the petitions, they have to follow the law.
According to Indian Express, the law is very clear that a minor cannot be detained further than three years. Justices Adarsh K Goel and Uday U Lalit explained that there has to be a clear legislative sanction for it to work. They dismissed the plea submitted by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). Supreme Court also questioned the Delhi government for blocking the release of the then minor now 20-year-old convict.
Los Angeles Times reported that the man was released Sunday after completing a three-year term in a reform home, the highest sentence allowed under Indian law. He was the only juvenile among the six attackers convicted of the rape last December 2012. Fearing that if he would go home he might not be safe, the man was released into the care of a nongovernmental aid agency. As addition to his state-sanctioned rehabilitation, he is to receive about $150 and a sewing machine to set up a tailoring shop.
The victim, Jyoti Singh, was a 23-year-old physiotherapy student riding a moving bus in India's capital. BBC News stated that the victim died of her injuries two weeks later after being brutally raped by the six men. The other five convicted, Ram Singh, the bus driver, his brother Mukesh Singh, gym instructor Vinay Sharma, fruit seller Pawan Gupta, a helper on the bus Akshay Thakur, were sentenced to death penalty. Ram Singh died in Tihar jail on March 11. 2013 while the other four appealed and their sentences were hold.
Public outcries and protests happened after the then juvenile's release. Public and some government officials are calling for changes in the Indian law for a 16-year-olds to be allowed to be tried as adults in the court for serious crimes.
