On Friday, the Juvenile Justice Board ruled that the four children in conflict with law (CCL) in the Jubilee Hills gang rape case can be tried as adults. Several people questioned why the fifth CCL, the son of an All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLA in Hyderabad, was not included along with the others. The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in the order stated that a preliminary assessment was carried out in the case of the first four CCLs since the alleged offences against them are heinous in nature. “No preliminary assessment conducted in respect of CCL5 as the offences alleged against him are not heinous,” stated the magistrate in the order.
According to the police, the fifth CCL was not involved in the rape but he kissed the victim in the car before getting off the vehicle. It was later that the others gangraped the victim. The MLA’s son was booked under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 and Section 9 (G) read with 10 of POCSO Act.
The Juvenile Justice Board that conducted the preliminary assessment of the CCLs took assistance of a Professor of Psychiatry from the Institute of Mental Health in Hyderabad. The psychiatrist, the board member and the magistrate interacted separately with each of the CCLs and submitted their individual reports. The interaction was aimed to assess the mental and physical capacity of the CCLs to commit the alleged offences and the ability to understand the consequences of their offence. The circumstances under which the CCLs allegedly committed the offence were looked into.
From the assessment it was concluded that all the CCLs belonged to financially well-to-do families and that they had no mental or physical disabilities. The CCLs were asked about their school life, college life, family, friends, hobbies, habits, social life, ambitions and achievements. The CCLs were found to have good intelligence levels, fair thought processes and also aware about general and social issues. All four CCLs stated that they did not have a habit of consuming alcohol.
The board member concurred with the psychiatrist in all respects except that the board member felt that the CCLs did not have the legal education to understand the consequence of their actions. The board member also opined that “the CCLs may have been lured by the approach of the victim”. However, the magistrate mentioned in the order that she differed with the board member’s opinion and reiterated that the inquiry was to assess the physical and mental ability of the CCLs and to assess whether the CCLs understand the consequences of the offence. Noting that CCL were neither under the influence of alcohol or other substances, the principal concluded there were no compelling circumstances for them to commit the crime.
The gangrape happened on May 28. The case came to light only on May 31 after the victim's father lodged a complaint with the police.
Following the arrests of all the six youth involved, the Telangana police decided to file a petition with the Juvenile Justice Board to treat the five CCLs as adults during the trial, to ensure that they get the maximum punishment. All five CCLs were released on bail in the last week of July, while Saduddin Malik was granted bail on August 3.
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