Gang rape suspect may be juvenile

A bone test is being carried out to confirm the age of a young suspect in custody over the fatal assault and gang rape of a woman on a bus in India's capital. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for five other men arrested with him, police said today. The six will be formally charged in court on Thursday on accusations that they kidnapped, gang-raped and murdered the 23-year-old woman in New Delhi on December 16, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said. Media reports said some 30 witnesses have been gathered, and the charges have been detailed in a document running to more than 1,000 pages. Outraged Indians have been demanding the death penalty for the six men, holding demonstrations almost every day since the rape. Murder is punishable by death and rape by life imprisonment. But juveniles - those under the age of 18 - cannot be prosecuted for murder. Another police officer said a bone test is being carried out to determine if the youngest suspect is indeed a juvenile. If the test determines he is 18 or older he will be treated as an adult, said the officer. The brutality of the case has made Indians confront the reality that sexual violence is deeply entrenched in the society.