Nirbhaya case: Priyanka Chopra says juvenile should not have been released

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra today opposed the release of the juvenile convict in the December 16 gang-rape case, an incident she desrcibed as "heinous" and "unforgivable". The 33-year-old actress, who was present here at the trailer launch of her upcoming film "Jai Gangaajal", asked by reporters about the release of the juvenile on Sunday.

"It is something I don't agree with. It's such a heinous crime its unforgivable. I am a law abiding citizen so I'll go with whatever the law decides but it was too heinous a crime...," Priyanka told reporters here. The convict was released on December 20 after the Supreme Court in a post-midnight order declined to stay the release of the juvenile offender in response to a Special Leave Petition filed by the the Delhi Commission for Women. His release saw protests by the victim's distraught parents who assailed the Centre and Delhi government for failing to get them justice.

"Jai Gangaajal" director Prakash Jha, who was also present at the event, said education is the solution to decrease the rate of juvenile crime. "In general, I am trying to say that reduce the rate of juvenile to 16 years.. You cannot generalise. Whether you reduce it to 16 years, do you mean to say 15-year old cannot commit that crime. That is not the solution... It's a bigger debate. It is education, major education which is needed." The convict, along with five others, had gangraped and murdered the 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on December 16, 2012.