Multi Agency Centre had alerted of a terrorist raid in LoC

NEW DELHI: The Multi Agency Centre (MAC) had issued warnings in Jammu on Sunday and here on Monday to the Army about a possible terrorist raid on one of the military posts in Mendhar, raising questions if the raid was a joint operation of the Pakistani Army and terrorists.

The warning came true so precisely — unlike several occasions in the past when MAC has warned of such raids that never happened — that it has baffled sources in the intelligence agencies if a raid was in the offing over the last two days, at least since Sunday when both sides exchanged fire just before the India-Pakistan ODI here. It is also entirely possible that Tuesday's raid may not be what the warning spoke about.

The MAC warning had said that there was likelihood of a raid on a military post, or planting of mines along the patrol routes of Indian soldiers. The incident, the warning had said, would take place in Mendhar sector.

Inputs had said that the raid or mine laying was part of a coordinated terrorist effort, under Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), to attack the Indian Army. Noticeably, the warning had said that it would be a terrorist action.

However, the raid on the post manned by the 13 Rajputana Rifles unit had all tell-tale signs of an Army operation, according to Army sources. Sources in the intelligence establishment said the operation could be a joint action of the Pakistani Army and terrorists. They have been watching heightened action in the area for the past few days since the Sunday firing.

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James Holmes' Elaborate Booby Trap Plan Revealed













A gasoline-soaked carpet, loud music and a remote control car were part of an elaborate plan by accused Aurora gunman James Holmes' to trick someone into triggering a blast that would destroy his apartment and lure police to the explosion while he shot up a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., according to court testimony today.


FBI agent Garrett Gumbinner told a Colorado court about Holmes' complex plans to booby trap his apartment. Gumbinner said he interviewed Holmes on July 20, hours after he killed 12 and wounded 58 during the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."


"He said he rigged the apartment to explode to get law enforcement to send resources to his apartment instead of the theater," Gumbinner said.


Click here for full coverage of the Aurora movie theater shooting.


His plan failed to prompt someone into triggering the bombs.


Gumbinner said Holmes had created two traps that would have set off the blast.


The apartment was rigged with a tripwire at the front door connected to a mixture of chemicals that would create heat, sparks and flame. Holmes had soaked the carpet with a gasoline mixture that was designed to be ignited by the tripwire, Gumbinner said.


"It would have caused fire and sparks," the agent said, and "would have made the entire apartment explode or catch fire."


Holmes had set his computer to play 25 minutes of silence followed by loud music that he hoped would cause a disturbance loud enough that someone would call police, who would then respond and set off the explosion by entering the apartment.








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Gumbinner said Holmes also told him he rigged a fuse between three glass jars that would explode. He filled the jars with a deadly homemade chemical mixture that would burn so hot it could not be extinguished with water.


Holmes set a second detonation system outside the building, the agent said.


Holmes, Gumbinner said, rigged one of the triggering devices, called a "pyro trip box" with a remote control. He then took the remote control outside and placed it on top of a white trash bag near the apartment building.


Next to the remote, Holmes placed a remote control car. Inside the trash bag, he put a portable stereo set to play 40 minutes of silence, followed by loud music, the agent said.


The plan, Gumbinner explained, was for someone to hear the music and be drawn to the remote control car with what appeared to be the remote control lying next to it. When that person picked up the remote to activate the car, he or she would have unknowingly triggered the explosion in the apartment.


Holmes also left rows of white powder on the floor, which Gumbinner said was ammonium chloride. The powder, Gumbinner believes, was meant "to scare us" and would have created a large amount of smoke if it had ignited.


Prosecutors showed several photographs of the devices in court.


Earlier in the day, prosecutors played two 911 calls in court, including the very first call from movie goer Kevin Quinonez as the shooting was still underway.


At least 30 rapid-fire gunshots could be heard in the background of the 27-second call, along with screaming.


"Gunshots?" Quinonez can be heard saying.


The dispatcher pleads with Quinonez to give the theater address, but the sound of gunshots and chaos drowns him out.


"Say it loud," the dispatcher pleads before the call goes dead.


In a second call, Kaylan Bailey calls to say her two cousins, Ashley Moser and Veronica Moser Sullivan, have been shot. One is breathing and the other is not, she says.


"Are there officers near you?" the dispatcher asks.


Amid the noise and confusion, the dispatcher pleads with the Bailey to start CPR on 6-year-old Veronica Moser Sullivan, who has stopped breathing. Veronica later died.


Victims and families listening to the calls in the courtroom were weeping openly and holding hands. One woman buried her face in her hands. Holmes showed no emotion.






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Five accused in India rape case charged in court


NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Five men accused of raping and murdering an Indian student were read the charges in a near-empty courtroom on Monday after the judge cleared out lawyers for bickering over whether the men deserved a defense.


The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died two weeks after being gang-raped and beaten on a moving bus in New Delhi, then thrown bleeding onto the street. Protests followed, along with a fierce public debate over police failure to stem rampant violence against women.


With popular anger simmering against the five men and a teenager accused in the case, most lawyers in the district where the trial will be held refuse to represent them.


Before the men arrived for a pre-trial hearing on Monday, heckling broke out in a chamber packed with jostling lawyers, journalists and members of the public after two of the lawyers, Manohar Lal Sharma and V. K. Anand, offered to defend the men.


"We are living in a modern society," declared Lal Sharma, defending his decision. "We all are educated. Every accused, including those in brutal offences like this, has the legal right ... to defend themselves."


One woman lawyer prodded V. K. Anand in the chest, saying: "I'll see how you can represent the accused."


Unable to restore order, presiding magistrate Namrita Aggarwal ordered everyone to leave except the prosecution, and set police to guard the entrance.


She said the trial would now be held behind closed doors because of the sensitivity of the case.


FACES COVERED


Reuters video images showed the men stepping out of a blue police van that brought them from Tihar jail and walking, their faces covered, through a metal detector into the South Delhi court building.


The court was across the street from the cinema where the victim watched a film before she was attacked on her way home.


Aggarwal gave the men copies of the charges, which include murder, rape and abduction, a prosecutor in the case told Reuters.


Police have conducted extensive interrogations and say they have recorded confessions, even though the men have no lawyers.


If the men, most of them from a slum neighborhood, cannot arrange a defense, the court will offer them legal aid before the trial begins.


Two of them, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta, have offered to give evidence against the others - Mukesh Kumar, Ram Singh and Akshay Thakura - possibly in return for a lighter sentence.


Mohan, describing what he called a heinous crime, said: "The five accused persons deserve not less than the death penalty."


The case has sharpened long-standing anger against the government and police for a perceived failure to protect women.


A male friend who was assaulted with the woman on December 16 said on Friday that passers-by left her unclothed and bleeding in the street for almost an hour and that, when police arrived, they spent a long time arguing about where to take them.


The woman lived for two weeks after her attack, dying in a Singapore hospital where she had been taken for treatment.


FAST-TRACK COURT


Aggarwal said the next hearing would be on January 10. The case is due to move later to another, fast-track court set up since the woman was attacked to help reduce a backlog of sex crime cases in Delhi.


Legal experts say the lack of representation for the five men may give grounds for appeal if they are found guilty. Convictions in similar cases have often been overturned years later.


Some legal experts have also warned that previous attempts to fast-track justice in India in some cases led to imperfect convictions that were later challenged.


The sixth member of the group alleged to have lured the student and a male friend into the private bus is under 18 and will be tried in a separate juvenile court.


The government is aiming to lower the age at which teenagers can be tried as adults, acknowledging public anger that the boy will face a maximum three-year sentence.


The victim was identified by a British newspaper at the weekend but Reuters has opted not to name her.


Indian law generally prohibits the identification of victims of sex crimes. The law is intended to protect victims' privacy and keep them out of the glare of media in a country where the social stigma associated with rape can be devastating.


The dead woman's father repeated on Monday that he wanted her identified and said he would be happy to release a photograph of her.


"We don't want to hide her identity. There is no reason for that. The only condition is it should not be misused," he told Reuters.


He said he was confident the trial would be quick and reiterated a call that the perpetrators be hanged.


(Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Robert Birsel and Tom Pfeiffer)



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Colorado gunman 'relaxed' after theatre massacre






CENTENNIAL: The alleged gunman behind the Colorado theatre shooting was relaxed and cooperative when arrested after the massacre which killed 12 people, an officer told a court hearing Monday.

James Holmes, who was wearing body armour and a mask, told police his name and volunteered that there were improvised explosive devices rigged up in his apartment, when detained after the shooting last July in Aurora, Colorado.

Holmes, sporting dark brown hair and a full beard, was led into court in handcuffs at the start of a week-long hearing expected to hear more details about the shooting, which revived America's perennial debate over gun control.

Clad in dark red prison scrubs, Holmes -- who had bright orange hair when he first appeared in court last July -- stared straight ahead and talked to no one in the courtroom, as relatives of the victims looked on.

Aurora policeman Jason Oviatt told the court how he at first thought Holmes was another officer when he arrived with dozens of other police, in response to 911 calls about the midnight shooting at a screening of the new Batman film.

Holmes had his hands on the top of a white car at the back of the building, and as Oviatt approached, he saw he was not a fellow officer.

"As I got closer the man was just standing there, not moving. The overall picture didn't match a police officer as I got closer," said Oviatt, one of two officers who testified at the opening court session.

The 25-year-old offered no resistance when ordered him to put his hands up, he said.

"He was completely compliant ... He was very relaxed, there weren't normal reactions to anything ... He was very detached," he said, adding: "He seemed to be out of it, and disoriented."

Fellow policeman Aaron Blue said Holmes told officers his name, home address, and that he had four weapons. "He volunteered there were no bombs here, but he had improvised explosive devices at his home," he said.

The alleged attack took place on July 20 in an opening midnight screening of the blockbuster Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," at the Century 16 theatre in Aurora.

Witnesses said Holmes threw smoke bomb-type devices before opening fire randomly with weapons including an AR-15 rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a .40-caliber pistol.

His one-bedroom apartment was later found to be booby-trapped with an array of home-made explosive devices, which police had to disarm before entering the dwelling.

In the last five months some details have leaked out, including that Holmes was being treated by a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado, where he was a doctoral student in neuroscience until shortly before the shootings.

But much has been kept confidential as part of the pre-trial judicial process, and this week's hearing is expected to reveal a good deal of previously-undisclosed evidence.

Prosecutors will build up their case that the shootings were a premeditated act of mass murder, while Holmes' lawyers may try to pick holes in evidence. It is unclear if they will argue that he is mentally unfit to stand trial.

The Aurora massacre, which also wounded at least 70, revived the perennial US debate over gun control -- an issue re-ignited even more intensely by last month's shooting of 20 young children at a Connecticut elementary school.

Only two days before Monday's hearing a gunman killed three people in Aurora itself, before police shot him dead. He had barricaded himself inside a house with his victims' bodies Saturday, but a woman escaped and raised the alarm.

- AFP/jc



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I gave permission to disclose name: Nirbhaya's father

LUCKNOW: A day after a British newspaper disclosed the name of the Delhi gang-rape victim, her family said they would have no objections to her name being published. Speaking to TOI on phone from Ballia, Nirbhaya's father said, "I have no problem if her name is disclosed. I have given my sanction for her name being made public."

The family had earlier said they would be happy to see more stringent rape laws in the country named after their 23-year-old daughter. On Monday, though, her father told TOI that he also had no objection if her name was put in the public domain before such laws are enacted. "It's fine if her name becomes known to people. She has suffered a lot and fought bravely. Now she can be a role model to others," he said.No written undertaking, however, was forthcoming from the father to any government body, which would make disclosing Nirbhaya's true name by any media house illegal.

The girl's family - her parents and two younger siblings - are in their native village in Ballia, where the Nirbhaya's last rites were performed. The family, her father said, would return to New Delhi on January 22."I have been in touch with the Delhi government. I spoke to Sheila-ji ( Sheila Dikshit) and she assured me that the government will give us all the aid they promised once I return to Delhi. No one from the UP government, though, has made any attempt to reach us," he said.

After the gruesome gang-rape of the 23-year-old was reported on December 16, the UP government, in three separate orders promised financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh to the victim's family. Over a fortnight since, however, any state government official has made no attempt to reach out to the family.

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Organ donations fall in Germany after scandal


BERLIN (AP) — Organ donations have dropped sharply in Germany following a scandal over alleged corruption at several transplant clinics.


The German Foundation for Organ Transplantation says the number of organs donated fell almost 13 percent to 3,917 last year, the lowest figure in a decade.


Several German clinics are being investigated over allegations that doctors manipulated waiting lists to help some patients appear sicker than they were and so receive transplants sooner.


The foundation said Monday that the scandal had "massively shaken" the public's faith in the transplant system.


Some 12,000 people in Germany require organ transplants each year.


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Accused Shooter Was 'Relaxed' After Massacre













Accused movie theater gunman James Holmes was "relaxed" and "detached" when police confronted him just moments after he had allegedly killed 12 people and wounded dozens more in the Aurora, Colo., massacre, a police officer testified today.


A preliminary hearing for Holmes began today in Colorado, with victims and families present. One family member likened attending the hearing to having to "face the devil."


The first two witnesses to take the stand were Aurora police officers who responded to the theater and spotted Holmes standing by his car at the rear of the theater.


Officer Jason Oviatt said he first thought Holmes was a cop because he was wearing a gas mask and helmet, but as he got closer realized he was not an officer and held Holmes at gunpoint.


Holmes allegedly opened fire at the crowded movie theater during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" on July 20, 2012. In addition to wearing the body armor and gas mask, Holmes had dyed his hair red.


Click here for full coverage of the Aurora movie theater shooting.


Throughout the search and arrest, Holes was extremely compliant, the officer said.


"He was very, very relaxed," Oviatt said. "These were not normal reactions to anything. He seemed very detached from it all."


Oviatt said Holmes had extremely dilated pupils and smelled badly when he was arrested.






Arapahoe County Sheriff/AP Photo











Aurora, Colorado Gunman: Neuroscience PhD Student Watch Video









Officer Aaron Blue testified that Holmes volunteered that he had four guns and that there were "improvised explosive devices" in his apartment and that they would go off if the police triggered them.


Holmes was dressed for the court hearing in a red jumpsuit and has brown hair and a full beard. He did not show any reaction when the officers pointed him out in the courtroom.


This is the most important court hearing in the case so far, essentially a mini-trial as prosecutors present witness testimony and evidence—some never before heard—to outline their case against the former neuroscience student.


The hearing at the Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo., could last all week. At the end, Judge William Sylvester will decide whether the case will go to trial.


Prosecutors say they will present potentially gruesome photos and videos in addition to 911 calls from the night of the shooting that left 12 people dead and 58 wounded. They will aim to convince the judge that there is enough evidence against Holmes to proceed to a trial.


It is expected that the prosecution's witnesses will include the Aurora police lead detective, first responders, the coroner and a computer forensic specialist.


In an unusual move, defense attorneys may call two witnesses. Last week, the judge ruled that Holmes can call the witnesses to testify on his "mental state," but it is not clear who the witnesses are.


A court-imposed gag order days after the shooting has kept many of the details under wraps, so much of the information could be new to the public.


Hundreds of family members and victims are expected to attend the hearing.


Holmes has been charged with 166 counts of murder, attempted murder, possession of explosives and crime of violence. The district attorney has not decided whether to seek the death penalty, and Holmes' defense team believes Holmes is mentally ill. He has not entered a plea.


One of the attendees will be MaryEllen Hanson, whose great-niece Veronica Moser Sullivan, 6, was killed in the shooting. Veronica's mother Ashley was shot and is now a quadriplegic and suffered a miscarriage.






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Assad "peace plan" greeted with scorn by foes


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejected peace talks with his enemies on Sunday in a defiant speech that his opponents described as a renewed declaration of war.


Although the speech was billed as the unveiling of a new peace plan, Assad offered no concessions and even appeared to harden many of his positions. He rallied Syrians for "a war to defend the nation" and disparaged the prospect of negotiations.


"We do not reject political dialogue ... but with whom should we hold a dialogue? With extremists who don't believe in any language but killing and terrorism?" Assad asked supporters who packed Damascus Opera House for his first speech since June.


"Should we speak to gangs recruited abroad that follow the orders of foreigners? Should we have official dialogue with a puppet made by the West, which has scripted its lines?"


It was his first public speech to an audience in six months. Since the last, rebels have reached the capital's outskirts.


George Sabra, vice president of the opposition National Coalition, told Reuters the peace plan Assad put at the heart of his speech did "not even deserve to be called an initiative":


"We should see it rather as a declaration that he will continue his war against the Syrian people," he said.


"The appropriate response is to continue to resist this unacceptable regime and for the Free Syrian Army to continue its work in liberating Syria until every inch of land is free."


The speech was seen by many as a response to U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, who has been meeting U.S. and Russian officials to try to narrow differences between Washington and Moscow over a peace plan. Brahimi also met Assad in Syria late last month.


"Lakhdar Brahimi must feel foolish after that Assad speech, where his diplomacy is dismissed as intolerable intervention," said Rana Kabbani, a Syrian analyst who supports the opposition.


The United States, European Union, Turkey and most Arab states have called on Assad to quit. Russia, which sells arms to and leases a naval base from Syria, says it backs a transition of power but that Assad's departure should not be a precondition for any talks.


REPETITIONS


Assad's foreign foes were scornful and dismissive of the speech: "His remarks are just repetitions of what he's said all along," said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.


"It seems he's locked himself up in a room and only reads the intelligence reports presented to him."


British Foreign Secretary William Hague said "empty promises of reform fool no one". In a Twitter message, he added: "Death, violence and oppression engulfing Syria are of his own making."


EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said Brussels would "look carefully if there is anything new in the speech, but we maintain our position that Assad has to step aside and allow for a political transition".


The 47-year-old Assad, tall and mustachioed, in a business suit and tie, spoke confidently for about an hour before a crowd of cheering loyalists, who occasionally interrupted him to shout and applaud, at one point raising their fists and chanting: "With blood and soul we sacrifice for you, oh Bashar!"


At the end of the speech, supporters rushed to the stage, mobbing him and shouting: "God, Syria and Bashar is enough!" as a smiling president waved and was escorted from the hall past a backdrop showing a Syrian flag made of pictures of people whom state television described as "martyrs" of the conflict so far.


"We are now in a state of war in every sense of the word," Assad said in the speech, broadcast on Syrian state television. "This war targets Syria using a handful of Syrians and many foreigners. Thus, this is a war to defend the nation."


Independent media are largely barred from Damascus.


Giving the speech in the opera house, in a part of central Damascus that has been hit by rebel attacks, could be intended as a show of strength by a leader whose public appearances have grown rarer as the rebellion has gathered force.


Critics saw irony in the venue: "Assad speech appropriately made in Opera House!" tweeted Rami Khouri, a commentator for Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper. "It was operatic in its other-worldly fantasy, unrelated to realities outside the building."


DEATHS


The United Nations says 60,000 people have been killed in the civil war, the longest and bloodiest of the conflicts to emerge in two years of revolts in Arab states.


Rebels now control much of the north and east of the country, a crescent of suburbs on the outskirts of the capital and the main border crossings with Turkey in the north.


But Assad's forces are still firmly in control of most of the densely populated southwest, the main north-south highway and the Mediterranean coast. The army also holds military bases throughout the country from which its helicopters and jets can strike rebel-held areas with impunity, making it impossible for the insurgents to consolidate their grip on territory they hold.


Assad, an eye doctor, has ruled since 2000, succeeding his late father Hafez, who had seized power in a 1970 coup.


The rebels are drawn mainly from Syria's Sunni Muslim majority, while Assad, a member of the Alawite sect related to Shi'ite Islam, is supported by some members of religious minorities who fear retribution if he falls.


The conflict has heightened confrontation in the Middle East between Shi'ite Iran and Sunni Arab rulers, particularly those in the Gulf who are allied with the West against Tehran.


The plan unveiled in Sunday's speech could hardly have been better designed to ensure its rejection by the opposition. Among its proposals: rebels would first be expected to halt operations before the army would cease fire, a certain non-starter.


Assad also repeatedly emphasized rebel links to al Qaeda and other Sunni Islamist radicals. Washington has also labeled one of the main rebel groups a terrorist organization and says it is linked to the network founded by Osama bin Laden.


Diplomacy has been largely irrelevant so far in the conflict, with Moscow vetoing U.N. resolutions against Assad.


U.N. mediator Brahimi has been trying to bridge the gap, meeting senior U.S. and Russian officials to discuss his own peace proposal, which does not explicitly mention Assad's fate.


National Coalition spokesman Walid Bunni said Assad's speech appeared timed to prevent a breakthrough in those talks, by taking a position that could not be reconciled with diplomacy.


"The talk by Brahimi and others that there could be a type of political solution being worked out has prompted him to come out and tell the others 'I won't accept a solution'," Bunni said, adding that Assad feared any deal would mean his downfall.


(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman, Gulsen Solaker in Ankara and Tim Castle in London; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)



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Football: Ronaldo rescues Madrid on dramatic Casillas day






MADRID: Goalkeeper Iker Casillas came off the bench after just five minutes for 10-man Real Madrid who needed a second half double from Cristiano Ronaldo to beat Real Sociedad 4-3 on Sunday.

The Madrid captain was left out for the second consecutive game but was called upon in the opening minutes following a penalty conceded by his replacement Adan Garrido who was red carded.

Xabi Prieto, who was to grab a hat-trick, scored from the spot-kick to equalise after Karim Benzema had put Madrid ahead after just two minutes with Sami Khedira then restoring the lead for Jose Mourinho's side after 35 minutes.

Prieto struck again before half-time before Ronaldo came to the rescue with a brace after the restart.

Prieto hit his third with 14 minutes to go but Sociedad finished with 10 men also as Daniel Estrada was given a second yellow card.

Madrid are still 13 points behind Barcelona who play Espanyol later in a local derby and where they welcome back coach Tito Vilanova after cancer surgery.

Madrid faced an injury crisis at the back with Pepe, Fabio Coentrao, Marcelo and Raul Albiol all injured and Sergio Ramos suspended but they did have striker Gonzalo Higuain back after two months out and he began on the bench.

They got the perfect start with Khedira finding Benzema in space in the centre of the penalty area and he found the corner with a clinical finish.

But if the Bernabeu crowd were expecting to then see a comfortable victory after such an inconsistent season they were badly mistaken as only three minutes later Adan conceded the penalty for the visitors to draw level.

Adan's poor pass to Ricardo Carvalho went to Carlos Vela who bore down on goal and was upended by the shot-stopper. The referee pointed to the spot and also dismissed Adan which meant Casillas would play after all.

The player nicknamed 'Saint Iker' by Spain fans for his exploits in the recent successes of the national side was unable to make the perfect start as Prieto fired home the penalty.

An edgy looking Casillas moments later played the ball straight to Prieto who hit the side netting and then he came and failed to reach a corner ball crossed in.

Sociedad came into the game on the back of a strong run without a defeat in seven games and Antoine Griezmann went close with a couple of strikes as they played the ball around well in attack.

Madrid went back ahead with Khedira flicking in a shot by Carvalho from the edge of the area but they were never comfortable at the back and Prieto got his second when a Vela strike fell to him and he drove the ball past Casillas.

In first half stoppage time Benzema hit a post with fine effort from the edge of the area and Khedira was unable to direct the rebound goalwards.

After the break the game hit a lull before Ronaldo responded with a double. Benzema hit a ball over the top and he finished clinically and then a couple of minutes later he struck a free-kick into the top corner.

Sociedad didn't give up with Xabi Prieto latching onto a Chory Castro pass before beating Casillas but their hopes of an equaliser were hit by a red card for Estrada.

- AFP/jc



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He raped, killed 6-yr-old; got off death row as ‘juvenile’

NEW DELHI: A woman prosecutor in the Delhi high court has written to the government urging it to approach the Supreme Court against a youth, convicted of raping and killing a six-year-old girl, who escaped the death penalty by using the Juvenile Justice Act.

The youth was handed the death sentence by a trial court after it was proved that he brutally raped and murdered his victim, chopped her body and threw the parts in two public toilets. However, the high court in November last year declared him a juvenile and set aside his conviction.

His case was sent to the Juvenile Justice Board, which is empowered to sentence him to a maximum detention of three years.

Now, additional public prosecutor Richa Kapoor has urged the authorities to move the apex court to settle questions of law which have since also been raised in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case.

She said the SC should be requested to consider if courts are competent to weigh the conduct of the accused and brutality of their crime, and not just go by medical evidence "which is not conclusive and varies according to region, diet, race etc and hence isn't conclusive proof".

Kapoor said if the offence indicates "evil and well-planned design" displaying the "matured skill" of a criminal, then the "so-called child as per medical age" should not be held to be a juvenile. She questioned why an accused who raped and killed a minor should be protected as a juvenile.

After the trial court verdict, the convict had filed an application claiming to be a juvenile. HC then directed an inquiry to be conducted by the trial court to ascertain his age at the time of the crime. While the bone ossification test put the youth's age between 17 and 20 years, HC took further pains and made inquiries from his family.

Since the youth never went to school, the court relied on recollection of his three elder sisters to zero in on the approximate year he was born. The court took into account the statements of his two sisters who said their brother was less than two years old when they got married (in the same year). HC, in its order of November 19 last year, decided to extend the benefit of doubt to the youth favouring the age hinted at by his sisters and the medical report.

In her recommendation, Kapoor asked whether "medical evidence and other attending circumstances would be of any value and assistance while determining the age of a juvenile, if municipal birth certificate/academic records/ certificates are not there or don't conclusively prove the age of the accused?"

"Looking at the facts of the case in hand, the accused certainly doesn't seem to be an innocent minor law breaker. To conclusively hold in view of medical age that the accused had not attained the age of discretion so as to understand the consequences of his heinous act is not free from ambiguity or doubt," the prosecutor said. The crime dates back to August 14, 2007. The trial court had awarded the maximum penalty to the accused.

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