Written By: Pavitra Sampath | Updated : August 6, 2013 11:42 AM IST
'But there were six men involved in the crime, right?' This was what the Delhi gang rape victim's brother said after learning only five people had been charge-sheeted for the ordeal they put his deceased sister through. When informed the sixth was a minor and would be tried by the Juvenile Justice court instead he was aghast. 'The person who has been left out is reportedly just four months from being an adult. He is said to be involved in the crime throughout. He should be treated as a major and punished like other criminals,' he added echoing the sentiments of the entire nation. Sadly, the law works differently.
The sixth and most brutal rapist's school reports suggest he's 17 years and six months old, meaning he's a minor in the eyes of the law and can't be meted out harsh punishments like life imprisonment or capital punishment. The worst ordeal he could face is three years in a juvenile home! And this is the person who raped her twice once when she was unconscious, extracted her intestines with his bare hands and suggested they throw them off the bus naked. It seems outrageous that for such a heinous he could be let off so easily.
To get some clarity the Delhi Police have ordered an age determination test. However, there's some confusion regarding which test has been ordered. While some media reports suggest the experts are going to carry out a bone ossification test others claim it will be a bone marrow test. Sadly despite the advancement of science, technology and diagnosis, predicting the exact age of a person remains a hard thing.
These are some of the common age-determination tests:
Bone ossification test: This is the one of the tests that media reports claim that the rapist is to undergo. In this test the technician looks to find out how far the person's bones have ossified (fused). Infants have 350 bones and they subsequently fuse into 206 bones by the time someone turns 25. And the different stages of the fusing of bones can give indications of their real age. The table below explains the changes in bone ossification for a particular age bracket:
Age | Change in bones |
Birth to 5 years | Secondary ossification centres appear in the epiphyses |
5 years to 12 years in females, 5 to 14 years in males | Ossification is spreading rapidly from the ossification centres and various bones are becoming ossified |
17 to 20 years | Bone of upper limbs and scapulae becoming completely ossified |
18 to 23 years | Bone of the lower limbs and os coxae become completely ossified |
23 to 25 years | Bone of the sternum, clavicles, and vertebrae become completely ossified |
By 25 years | Nearly all bones are completely ossified |
Some of the common bones used to determine the age of a person are as below:
However, this test can't be taken as conclusive. An X-ray ossificationtest may provide a surer basis for determining the age of an individual with the opinion of a medical expert, but it can by no means be so infallible and accurate a test as to indicate the correct number of years and days he has lived.
Bone marrow test
The bone marrow test is far more accurate than others. It can predict a person's age within a margin of six months to one year while other tests have a two year gap. Basically, the bone marrow is of two types - red marrow (ossium rubra) which consists of mainly hematopoietic cells and yellow marrow(medulla ossium) which is mainly made up of fat cells. At birth, all bone marrow cells are red and with age they progressively convert to yellow marrow. An analysis of the ratio of red marrow to yellow marrow is an easy way to reliable discern a person's age.
Some other tests are:
Dental Examination: Dental records are commonly used to determine age, since the wearing down of teeth correlates with how long a person has been living and eating. Another indicator is the presence of the wisdom teeth. Their presence has a huge bearing on determining the age of a person.
Complex Method: It includes analysis of the pubic bones that lie just under the navel and some vertebral bones. Both the pubic bone and some vertebrae are rougher during the infant ages but start to become smooth as people age.
All these tests however can only determine the age of a person accurately within a 2 year margin.
While the aforementioned tests could help ascertain the correct age of the rapist, the lawmakers should realise that he is 6 months from being an adult and given the heinous nature of his crime should be tried in the adult courts to prevent a severe miscarriage of justice.
