Hyderabad: Narsingi police are examining the possibility of trying the juvenile offenders as adults in the rape case of a 16-year-old girl. One of the accused is 24 years old, while the age of the second arrested accused, as per his Aadhaar card, is 17 years. The third juvenile is yet to be caught, and a police team has launched a manhunt for him.Trying juveniles aged above 16 years as adults in heinous crimes under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act is not unprecedented in Telangana. In 2019, a 17-year-old was awarded a life sentence by a local court in Hyderabad after being tried as an adult in a sodomy and murder case involving a 10-year-old boy.
Subsequently, in 2022, in a gang rape case involving a 17-year-old girl in Jubilee Hills, the prosecution sought to try four juveniles in conflict with the law as adults, and the matter is currently pending before the local trial court.Referring to these precedents, Narsingi police are examining the possibility of approaching the juvenile court to try the accused in the 16-year-old girl’s rape case as adults.Under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, offences for which the minimum punishment is imprisonment for seven years or more are classified as heinous. “Since all three accused in the case, including the two juveniles, were booked for committing the heinous offence of gang rape, we will now have to determine whether their age is above 16 years so that we can request the juvenile court to try them as adults after filing a charge sheet,” said an investigator.As per the Aadhaar card of the arrested juvenile, he is 17 years old, but Aadhaar is not considered valid proof of age. “The juvenile accused does not have any school education, so a school bonafide certificate, which is a valid document, is ruled out. At present, a birth certificate is also not available. Therefore, we will have to conduct an age determination test (ossification test),” said a police source.Regarding the third accused, the other two knew only his name and that he resided in the Talabkatta area. They did not know details of his family or his exact house address. A police team is verifying details with local residents to trace him. Once arrested, the police will also verify his age documents and, if he is found to be above 16 years of age, will request the court to try him as an adult.If a juvenile is tried as an adult, the maximum penalty for gang rape is life imprisonment. If tried as a juvenile, however, the maximum punishment for gang rape is up to three years.
