First Rapist Convicted in Delhi Gang Rape Gets Three Years in Prison

An Indian court has sentenced the 18-year-old youth who was being tried for his role in the gang rape of a young woman on a New Delhi bus last year to three years in prison, sparking outrage from the victim’s family, who argued that the young man should have been tried as an adult despite the fact that he was 17 when he committed his crime.

This is the first conviction in the gang rape case. The young man (Indian law forbids the publication of his name since he was tried and convicted in a juvenile court) is one of six people accused of brutally raping and beating a 23-year-old medical student and the man she was traveling with on a public bus. The victim’s parents have insisted that the conviction is extremely disappointing, especially owing to the fact that the 18-year-old was their daughter’s most vicious attacker.

In a statement after the conviction, the victim’s father Badrinath Singh expressed his frustration with the justice system;s apparent leniency:

This is completely unacceptable to us. We are not satisfied with this outcome. He is virtually being set free. This is very wrong.

No family should have a daughter if this is the fate that lies ahead for women. In this country, it is crime to be born a girl.

A lawyer for the victim’s family said that they’d be challenging the juvenile court’s verdict in a higher court.