Police in Hyderabad want 5 minors tried as adults "for maximum punishment."

  • June 9, 2022, 11:56 a.m.

In the Hyderabad gang-rape of a teenaged girl for which six persons have been arrested, police will push for the five under-18 accused to be tried as adults so that they do not get lighter punishment on account of being juveniles. 

This is permitted after a 2015 amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act, if the person is aged 16-18 and has committed a "heinous offence", meaning a crime that attracts a minimum of seven years' jail. Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand said the police will seek this in court "to ensure maximum punishment". 

Otherwise, a juvenile cannot be sentenced to more than three years in jail.

All five minors in this case are aged above 16 but below 18, one of them barely a month under 18. Three of the minors are reportedly linked to powerful politicians. 

The Act, however, sets three criteria before a court can decide to treat such accused as adults: mental and physical capacity; ability to understand consequences; and the circumstances of the offence.  

Police have said five of the arrested persons were involved in the rape in a car, while one of the minor boys was seen misbehaving with her but did not commit rape. 

Mr Anand had earlier said that stringent sections of law have been invoked and the punishment could be life imprisonment or even death. 

The girl and her attackers had met at a party at a pub in Hyderabad's upscale Jubilee Hills on May 28. The venue was booked by two minors for a party before schools reopened. They made the booking at ₹ 900 to 1,000 per head, and allegedly sold tickets for ₹ 1,300 apiece. 

The girl was at the party with a friend, who left early; and later met the group that assaulted her the same evening inside a Toyota Innova. The police recorded her statement in front of a magistrate. 

Author : Rajdhani Delhi Representative

Rajdhani delhi representative

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