Suspect in rape case to be tried as adult

On Monday, the JJB held that during the crime, the accused was more than 18 years old and cannot be declared a juvenile in conflict with the law. The board determined that the date of birth of the accused is August 21, 1997, and at the time of the incident, he was 19 years old.

A 19-year-old man, who was earlier declared a juvenile, will now be tried as an adult in connection with the rape of a 14-year-old girl in 2016, after the Juvenile Justice Board declared him to be an “adult”, overturning a previous decision.

On December 8, 2016, the board had declared that the date of birth of the accused was July 21, 1999. (HT)

On Monday, the JJB held that during the crime, the accused was more than 18 years old and cannot be declared a juvenile in conflict with the law. The board determined that the date of birth of the accused is August 21, 1997, and at the time of the incident, he was 19 years old.

On December 8, 2016, the board had declared that the date of birth of the accused was July 21, 1999.

The JJB had later conducted a fresh enquiry to ascertain the age of the accused after the Delhi High Court had remitted the matter back to the board to reconsider the record and return a finding on the juvenility claim.

On October 26, 2018, justice Sanjeev Sachdeva had noted that the investigating officer had not obtained any government-issued documents, based on which an entry was made in the school records. The court, while setting aside the order of the JJB, had said that the board should not have relied on the school register to determine the suspect’s age.

According to the prosecution, on November 8, 2016, the suspect allegedly kidnapped a minor girl from Bawana village, took her to an unknown place, gave her a cold drink laced with an intoxicant and sexually assaulted her.

Appearing for the girl, advocates Prashant Manchanda and Sandeep Kaushik contended that all the documents pertaining to the age proof of the child in conflict with law should be perused. They contended that the suspect was not a juvenile, as the municipal records showed his date of birth as August 21, 1997.

The JJB noted that there was no witness from the school as the suspect had ostensibly applied through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to pursue his class 10 education, as per the statement of a NIOS officer. The board also said that the document detailing the birth date was taken on face value by the school without a detailed examination or delving into the factum of foundational documents.

The board directed that the accused be produced before the chief metropolitan magistrate on April 22, 2019.