Women activist welcomes move to send juvenile accused in Nirbhaya case to correction home

Women activist Kavita Srivastava on Thursday hailed the government's decision to keep the juvenile accused in the 'Nirbhaya' gang-rape case under the monitoring of an NGO for a year instead of releasing him, saying this would give him a chance to correct himself.

"It is very good. The rehabilitation process is an evolving process, it should not only be for an year but for two to three years. After all, the boy was very very young when he was used by the adults to commit such a heinous crime," Srivastava told ANI.

"I think it is a very positive development, it shows the direction on how to do correction and not give up on our children who commit crimes. I am glad that we are moving away from hanging him (the accused) debate and moving towards correction," she added.

According to sources, the accused juvenile, who was supposed to be released on December 15, would not be released from jail as of now.

The convict, who was below 18 years at the time of the horrific crime, was sentenced to three years in a reform home.

The punishment was seen by many as disproportionate to the enormity of the crime and spurred demands for changes in the law so that the teenagers involved in serious crimes can be tried as adults.

Four other convicts have been sentenced to death and a fifth was found dead in prison.