The juvenile convicted in the brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern on the night of16 December, 2012, will be released next month as his three-year term in the rehabilitation centre is set to end.
Although he is scheduled to be released on 15 December, the Delhi government is pondering setting him free a week in advance fearing public outrage, as he (the juvenile convict) himself fears that he may be "lynched" after his release.
"He is scheduled to be released on December 15 but we know there will be a lot of attention on him that day. For his safety, we plan to release him a week in advance," Hindustan Times quoted a senior government official as saying.
The Delhi government will, however, need to get clearance from Juvenile Justice Board for his early release.
The report further suggest that the jail authorities will take the convict outside the Majnu Ka Tila shelter home where they will hand him over to his mother, who will be given Rs 20,000. Both of them will then be shifted safely to an undisclosed location.
The 20-year-old convict from Uttar Pradesh's Badaun was a juvenile when the court found him guilty of raping and assaulting the victim with iron rods along with five accomplices in a private moving bus in Delhi. During the investigations, the police found out that the juvenile was the most brutal among all the six assaulters.
The Intelligence Bureau (IB) will also keep a watch on the convict on the suspicion that he was indoctrinated by his cell mate, a Kashmiri youth involved in the Delhi High Court blast in 2011. Both shared a cell for more than a year before they were separated. Hence, the IB wants to confirm that he is de-radicalised before his release.
"We will review his case and a decision will be taken after analysing all aspects. If it is found that he is completely deradicalised, he will be released," India Today quoted a government official as saying.
The IB had in its report said that the Kashmiri youth had radicalised Nirbhaya gangrape convict to join jihad in Kashmir after being set free from reform facility.
The Union Home Ministry had ordered counter radicalisation for the convict, after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July this year insisting on an investigation against Nirbhaya's rapist, claiming that he has been radicalised.
"For the purpose of finding out the truth whether he has become a terrorist, a proper investigation should be done before he is set free. If true, the convict will be a menace to society," Swamy had said in his letter.
The Nirbhaya gangrape case in 2012 had triggered massive protests across the nation, forcing the government to introduce stricter laws and better safety measures for women. Nirbhaya (a name given by the media) was gangraped on a moving bus by six men, while her male friend was assaulted.
She had suffered severe injuries in her abdomen and intestines due to the brutal assault and succumbed to her injuries on 29 December 2012. The juvenile convict and five others were later found guilty of rape, assault and murder of the 23-year-old.
While the juvenile convict was sent to reform facility for three years, the other five were sentenced to death. Of the five adult convicts, one was found dead in the Tihar Jail on 11 March. The police suspect it to be a suicide.
