E-Paper
Kasab will undergo test to determine his age
Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist captured during the 26/11 terror attack, will undergo an ossification test to determine if he was a minor at the time of the attack, Presley Thomas reports.
Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist captured during the 26/11 terror attack, will undergo an ossification test to determine if he was a minor at the time of the attack.
An ossification test is based on the fusion of joints in the human body.
A radiologist and forensic dentist will conduct the test, and submit a report by April 28.
Judge ML Tahaliyani approved an application that special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had filed to find out if Kasab was above 18 years of age. The court has also allowed the prosecutor to examine two witnesses, a doctor and jailor, on April 28 to confirm Kasab’s age.
If established that Kasab was a juvenile at the time of attack, the maximum sentence the alleged Lashkar-e-Tayyeba operative would face under the Juvenile Justice Act would be three years.
Kasab’s ossification test and dental test to determine his age would be conducted within the Arthur Road jail premises, said sources. The inquiry has been ordered after Nikam moved an application urging that his age be determined before the charges are framed against him.
Kasab on April 17 had pleaded that he was a minor. His lawyer Abbas Kazmi had sought that the case be transferred to Juvenile Justice Board.
But the court had turned down his plea and opined that he did not appear to be juvenile. However, the court had kept the option open to conduct an inquiry to determine his age as and when required during the trial.
