For maximum punishment, Police want to try 5 minors as adults in Hyderabad gang-rape case

Hyderabad, June 09: In a bid to ensure that they do not receive lighter punishment on account of being juveniles, Hyderabad Police have said that they will push for five minors accused of gangraping a 17-year-old girl to be tried as an adult.

 

 

Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand said the police will seek this in court to ensure "maximum punishment" for the accused. As per the juvenile justice act, if a person is aged 16-18 and has committed a 'heinous offense', then the crime attracts a minimum of seven years in jail.

 

It should be noted, that out of the 6 accused in this case, 5 are below 18. Of the total 5, three of them are associated with high-profile families. Two of the accused minors are the son and nephew of an AIMIM MLA while a third is the son of a politician holding an important position in a key Telangana government body.

 

 

Commissioner CV Anand further added that stringent sections of the law have been invoked against those involved in the heinous crime and the punishment under the sections could be imprisonment for life till death or even the death penalty, he had said. The girl was allegedly gang-raped inside a car while returning from a birthday party last month.

 

This is not the first time Hyderabad police have sought trial of the juvenile as an adult. Earlier in 2019, a local court had awarded 2 life sentences to a 17-year-old in a sodomy and murder case of a 10-year-old after he was tried as an adult.