India Gang-Rape Suspect to Face Just 3 Years

A suspect in the fatal gang-rape of a young woman in New Delhi last month was a juvenile at the time of the attack, a court ruled today. A magistrate reportedly announced the decision after going over school documents that showed him to have been born on June 4, 1995—making him about six months short of his 18th birthday when the assault occurred. He'll now face three years in a reform facility, rather than the sentence faced by his fellow adult defendants: death.

Reuters notes that the victim's family is furious, and is demanding a test that the juvenile board deemed unnecessary. "This is wrong. We need the bone test to determine [his] real age, certificates can be forged," says the victim's younger brother. Adds the father, "How can they declare him a minor? Do they not see what they did?" (More India stories.)