Boy guilty of rape bid to serve water to lawyers

A juvenile justice board has asked a 17-year-old boy to serve water for a month to lawyers as punishment for trying to rape a six-year old girl at Biharsharif in Nalanda district, 80km south-east of Patna.

Holding the boy guilty, the chief magistrate of the juvenile justice board, Biharsharif, on Thursday asked him to serve water to lawyers and visitors coming to the lawyers’ association building there.

The family members of the boy have agreed to make available pitchers and glasses so that he can serve punishment.

The minor boy had tried to rape a six-year-old girl at Panhar village on January 31, 2016 .

The boy lured the victim, his neighbour, into his house by telling her that he would show her father’s photograph on his mobile phone.

The boy, however, fled when the victim’s family members rushed into the house on hearing the screams of the girl, as he tried to force himself on her.

Nalanda superintendent of police Kumar Ashish said, “Succumbing to police pressure, the juvenile delinquent surrendered in court within a month of the victim’s family lodging a complaint with the police.”

Confirming the punishment, prosecution lawyer Ram Narayan Paswan, said: “The court took a lenient view considering the age of the accused and gave him an opportunity to correct himself.”

After the furore over the December 16, 2012, Delhi gang rape, the President on December 31, 2015, gave his assent to the bill that proposed adult-like treatment for juveniles between 16 and 18 years of age committing heinous crimes like murder and rape.