New Delhi: It has been almost a year since the brutal December 16 gang rape and now the dead victim Damini's parents have moved the Supreme Court to demand a fresh trial by a criminal court for that juvenile who has not been given the death penalty like the other four culprits.

 




The parents have made two respondents -- the Union government and the 17-year-old, who was tried by a Juvenile Justice Board and handed down the maximum three-year sentence permissible under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
 
Damini's parents through their advocate Aman Hingorani have stated that such a minor punishment for a heinous crime like rape leading to murder under the Juvenile Justice Act was unconstitutional.
 
 
Damini's parents' said, "One of the accused has not been tried at all for the offences committed under the Indian Penal Code by a criminal court on the premise that he is a juvenile in conflict with law being a 17-year-old."
 
"The board referred to the statement of the daughter of the petitioners recorded before SDM, Vivek Vihar, Delhi, to the effect that in the moving chartered bus, she was beaten in the stomach with iron rod and bitten all over the body," the petition said and narrated the gruesome act committed by the six accused, one of whom died during the trial.