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            Protesters Angered By Release of Delhi Gang-rape Convict

   by VOA News

   Hundreds of people protested in New Delhi Sunday against the impending
   release of the juvenile convicted in the fatal 2012 gang rape of a
   woman that sparked international outrage and led to changes to the
   country's rape laws.

   Among those protesting were the parents of the woman who was beaten and
   raped by six men, including the teenage male, aboard a bus. A metal rod
   was inserted into her body, which caused the internal injuries that
   caused her death two weeks later.

   The gang rape victim's mother demanded that the convict should not be
   released. "I feel that in the past three years we have struggled hard
   for justice and today we have failed because he will be released," she
   told Reuters in New Delhi.

   Served sentence

   On Friday, the Delhi High Court rejected a petition to extend his term,
   saying that the man has served the maximum sentence under the law.

   The Supreme Court of India will also hear a petition on Monday,
   challenging the release of the juvenile convict.

   The man, who was 17 at the time of the crime, finishes his three-year
   term in a reform home Sunday. News reports said he had been moved
   Sunday from the reform home to a new home, and was under the care of a
   children's rights group.

   Phone calls to police went unanswered, The Associated Press reported.

   Several activists and politicians have demanded that he not be released
   until it can be proven that he has been reformed.

   Others, however, agreed with his release, saying he had completed his
   sentence per the law.

   Human rights activist Kavita Srivastava said though she supports
   victim's family's fight for justice, she believes the convict must be
   given second chance at life.

   "It is my appeal to the victims' parents that we are together in their
   fight towards justice, but we are not above the law. The boy should be
   given another chance based on what the law says," said Srivastava in
   northwestern city of Jaipur.

   Sexual assault laws strengthened

   The brutality of the attack in the heart of New Delhi shocked the
   country of 1.2 billion, where sexual violence is rampant.

   Protests calling for stricter sexual assault and rape laws were held
   for months following the student's death. New legislation that
   strengthened punishments for sex crimes was passed in 2013.

   Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has pushed to change the
   juvenile law and reduce the age of attaining adulthood to 16, from 18.

   Four men were convicted of rape and murder, and sentenced to death. The
   death sentences have not yet been carried out. A fifth man hanged
   himself in prison.

   On Saturday, several university student groups staged protests in New
   Delhi as well, demanding the convict not be released.

   There were 337,922 reports of violence against women such as rape,
   molestation, abduction and cruelty by husbands last year, also up 9
   percent in 2013, according to a 2014 report by the National Crime
   Records Bureau.

   Some material for this report came from AP and Reuters.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/protesters-angered-by-release-of-delhi-gang-rape-convict/3110782.html