Juvenile to be booked under National Security Act

A day after the NHRC issued notices to the Centre and the Delhi government on a complaint by the parents of the December 16 gangrape victim apprehending a threat to society from the juvenile convict in the case who is set to be released next month, the Delhi police contemplated placing charges under the National Security Act to keep the 21-year-old convict in jail.

The juvenile convict was sentenced to three years in a juvenile home. He is to be released from the detention centre in less than three weeks.

Police sources said senior officers met legal experts on Wednesday to discuss charges under the NSA for which a person can be jailed for 12 months at a stretch. “We are having intense discussions with legal experts and are contemplating ways to keep him inside jail for more time. Nothing is final yet,” added the police sources.

The parents of the victim had recently approached the home ministry, the courts and the NHRC to stop his release and demanded that his face be shown.

An NHRC statement said the parents requested that there needs to be a “mechanism to keep a strict check on them” and that the rate of their committing crimes again is fairly high. The home ministry has asked for the opinion of the Delhi police on the same.

Apart from the juvenile, five other accomplices — Vinay Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Ram Singh, Mukesh Gupta and Pawan Gupta — were sentenced to death by the Delhi high court. One of the five died in jail.