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Delhi Gang Rape: Teenager Found Guilty
BBC NEWS, INDIA
August 31, 2013: A teenager has been found guilty of taking part in the fatal gang rape of a woman on a Delhi bus last year. He was convicted on charges of rape and murder over the crime, committed when he was aged 17. The teenager, who cannot be named, has been sentenced to three years in a reform facility, the maximum term possible for a juvenile. He had denied the charges, as do four adult men also on trial for the same attack.
The victim's mother left the court in tears, and told reporters that the teenager should be hanged. "By not punishing this teenager, this verdict is encouraging other teenagers to indulge in such acts and does not provide any safety to girls," she said, according to Reuters news agency.
The four others accused in the case could face the death penalty. A fifth adult defendant was found dead in his cell in March and prison officials said they believed he hanged himself.
The gang rape of the 23-year-old woman last December caused uproar across India and triggered a national debate about the treatment of women.
Meanwhile, a special fast-track court dealing with the trial of the four men accused in the case has been hearing closing arguments. A judge who has been hearing the case since the trial began in February is expected to deliver his verdicts in mid-September.
In March, India passed a new bill containing harsher punishments, including the death penalty, for rapists. Correspondents say the court hearings are being closely followed in India.
The victim, a physiotherapy student who also cannot be named for legal reasons, was with a male friend when she was attacked on a bus and thrown from the vehicle. Police said the assailants beat both of them and then raped the woman. She died in a Singapore hospital on 29 December from massive internal injuries.
