Court allows release of teenage rapist

A legal challenge to stop the release of the teenage convict of the 2012 Delhi gang rape has been unsuccessful. The petitioner, politician Subramanian Swamy, requested the Delhi high court to stop his release, due today.

The teenager, who cannot be named as he was a minor at the time of the crime, was sentenced to three years in a reform facility in August 2013 - the maximum term possible for a juvenile. The rape and the subsequent death of the woman had caused global outrage.

Some activists and the parents of the victim also wanted the teenager to stay in jail, saying "he can be a threat to the society".

But yesterday, the court said the convict could not be kept in the correctional home because he had served the maximum term possible under the law.

"We agree it is a serious issue. But after 20 December, the juvenile cannot be kept at a special home per law," the NDTV website quoted the judge as saying.

The mother of the victim said she was "disappointed" with the ruling and that she would consider challenging the order in the Supreme Court.

With public outrage growing over his release and threats to his life, he will be handed over to a charity for his protection and rehabilitation.

Some reports had claimed that the juvenile had been the most brutal during the crime and there were calls to try him as an adult, with many saying his punishment should be commensurate with his crime.

But during his trial, it was never proved that the teenager was any more brutal than the others, but this fact has been ignored by most people.