Indian Juvenile court defers order on Delhi gangrape case

The first judgement in the horrific Delhi gangrape case has been postponed again, with a juvenile court Monday deferring its order, involving a minor accused, till this monthend, sources said. The Juvenile Justice Board has deferred its verdict on one of the six accused, who was a minor at the time of the incident, till August 31 on the ground that the country's Supreme Court may give an order on a public interest litigation plea, seeking fresh interpretation of the term "juvenile" in the statute, they said. This is the fourth time that the juvenile court has deferred its judgement since last month. According to Indian juvenile laws, the accused, if convicted, is to undergo a maximum of three years in a reform facility. A plea has been pending in the apex court, seeking a fresh interpretation of juvenile age. The juvenile, now a major being attained 18 years of age, was among six others who had brutally and fatally gangraped a 23-year- old medical student on a moving bus in the national capital last December. The case shocked India and triggered massive protests in the national capital, forcing the government to bring in stricter punishment for those guilty of sexual assaults on women.