Hyderabad: The Hyderabad police is mulling filing a petition with the Juvenile Justice Board seeking to treat the five CCLs (child in conflict with law) as adults during the trial in the gang-rape case, to ensure that they get the maximum punishment. Six people including five juveniles have been apprehended in connection with the case.
Five of them were involved in the sexual assault of the 17-year-old girl on May 28. One juvenile was purportedly seen in videos misbehaving with her, but was not involved in the rape, the police said. Hyderabad Police Commissioner C V Anand told PTI that they are considering filing a plea before the board to treat the five as adults to ensure that they receive maximum punishment. Anand had already said 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 death penalty. The case is now under investigation and once the charge sheet is filed, a requisition will be made to the JJB to make a recommendation that the five CCLs be tried as adults, police sources said adding "otherwise as juveniles they get only 3 years jail term".
Telangana Minister and Working President of TRS K T Rama Rao welcomed the move by the police to file the plea.
In a tweet he said, "I welcome & support the stand of @TelanganaCOPs. If you are adult enough to commit a crime as heinous as rape, one must also be punished as an adult & not as a juvenile".
Meanwhile, the police took custody of the adult accused from a jail in Hyderabad after a local court granted his custody after they sought custodial interrogation of the accused as part of further investigations into the case including for recreation of scene of offence. The teenage girl, who visited a pub in the city on May 28 for a daytime party, was allegedly raped by five people, including four juveniles.
The girl was sexually assaulted in a multi purpose vehicle after the suspects had offered to drop her home in the vehicle.—PTI