A Juvenile Justice Board in New Delhi on Monday convicted a 26-year-old man for raping a woman in Noida in 2009, and sent him to a reformation home for three years, PTI reported. The man was 17 years old at the time of the crime.
On January 5, 2009, when the woman and her friend were returning from a mall in their car, four youths stopped their vehicle, beat them up and drove the vehicle to a secluded place near Noida village Garhi Chaukhandi, police said. At Garhi Chaukhandi, seven men joined, and the 11 men took turns to rape the woman.
A trial court in February 2017 had acquitted nine adults involved in the case for lack of evidence. One other accused had died during the trial. The prosecution has appealed against the trial court’s verdict in the Delhi High Court.
Juvenile Justice Board Presiding Magistrate Arul Verma said the presence of the man, who was a juvenile at the time, at the scene of the crime has been established by “overwhelming evidence”. “The evidence of prosecution witnesses have been amply strengthened by medical and scientific evidence, and by recovery of incriminating articles from the juvenile,” it said.
The board also reprimanded the Uttar Pradesh government for not yet providing compensation to the complainant, and directed it to pay her Rs 3 lakh soon.
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