Kasab raises juvenile plea to escape death penalty

In a bid to escape death penalty, Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab today urged the Bombay High Court to refer his case to medical boards to determine whether he was a juvenile and to study his psychological profile as well as mental frame of mind.

In a bid to escape death penalty, Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab today urged the Bombay High Court to refer his case to medical boards to determine whether he was a juvenile and to study his psychological profile as well as mental frame of mind.

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His lawyers Amin Solkar and Farhana Shah filed two separate petitions -- one seeking to determine his age and the other to know his mental state -- before justices Ranjana Desai and V M More who said they would hear the issues tomorrow.

This is the second time Kasab has raised the plea of being a juvenile. In the trial court earlier, he had argued that he was a minor and was put to ossification test which determined that he was above 20 years and a major.

The petitions further requested the court to appoint an NGO working in India and Pakistan to make a home study on Kasab, his family background and the circumstances which made him participate in the 26/11 terror attacks for which he was sentenced to death by the trial court.