The juvenile convicted in the December 2012 gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old woman will be released on or before Sunday, December 20. The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to stay his release on a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy. The court said it cannot prohibit the juvenile's release as per the statutory and existing provision of law, reported PTI.

It also directed the Juvenile Justice Board to speak to his family, stating that he cannot be kept in the juvenile home any longer. Unhappy with the decision, the victim's parents said that a criminal was now free and there was no justice in the court’s decision. Earlier, the victim's mother had said that it would show "the helplessness of the government and the law of our country" if he is released.

The man, who is now 20 years old, was the youngest of the six who raped and brutally tortured a 23-year-old medical student on a moving bus in Delhi three years ago, an incident that sparked a massive outcry across the nation and globe. The parents of the gangrape victim had also expressed their exasperation with the legal system after he was given just a lighter jail term of three years as he was a minor when he committed the crime.