Indian activists hold placards while they stage a demonstration in Bangalore, condemning the December 16 gang rape in New Delhi. (file photo)
A court in India will deliver the first verdict next week over the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old medical student in the capital, New Delhi.
The juvenilesâ„¢ court which has been hearing the case of a teenager, accused in last December’s fatal assault on the woman on a bus, is set to give its verdict on 11 July.
Å“Arguments will be held first and then the judgment will be out,” defense lawyer Rajesh Tiwari said on Friday.
The victim was gang-raped and savagely beaten in the moving bus and thrown out on to the street of New Delhi. She succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in Singapore on December 29, 2012.
Tiwari added the court has prevented him from commenting on the trial or its result, noting, Å“At this stage we are barred by it from speaking on the expected verdict but after July 11 I will express my opinion.”
The suspect, whose name cannot be released under Indian laws, was 17 years old at the time of the crime. If found guilty, the court can give him a maximum term of three years in a reform facility since he was under 18 when the crime was committed.
Five other males were also arrested and put on trial for gang-rape, murder and robbery among other charges. They face a maximum death penalty if convicted.
However, one of the suspects was found dead in prison in March. Officials of the jail said they believed he committed suicide.
The four other suspects are on trial at a special court established to fast-track the case. The judge is expected to announce a verdict in the next few months.
The horrific nature of the crime shocked Indians and mass protests broke out across the country in December 2012 and January 2013.
MR/HN
Republished with permission from: Press TV