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Mumbai attack

Surviving suspect of Mumbai attack could face death penalty

AP

04/28/2009

The suspect claimed he was 17 at the time of the attack but medical experts now say he could not have been a minor and is therefore eligible to be hanged.

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Indian experts have declared that the only surviving suspect in last year''s Mumbai terrorist attacks is over 20 years old, contradicting his claim he was a minor at the time of the assault, which would allow him to escape the death penalty.

A team of four government doctors and forensic experts had on Monday examined Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani who has been charged with murder and waging war against India.

Prosecutors say Kasab and nine other gunmen, who were killed during the siege, are responsible for the deaths of 166 people and the injury of 304 more during the three-day siege in November.

Ahead of his trial that began earlier this month, Kasab''s lawyer, Abbas Kazmi, had said his client was 17 at the time of the attacks and should be tried by a juvenile court.

On Tuesday, the medical report said that all four doctors agreed that he "must be more than 20-years-old."

The experts made their assessment based on a dental examination and X-rays of his elbow, chest, wrists, pelvis and shoulder.

The report was tabled in court before Judge M.L. Tahiliyani, who is conducting the trial into the attacks.

Tahiliyani also heard evidence from the superintendent of the prison where Kasab is being held and the doctor who first attended to his injuries after the attacks. Both told the court that he had told them he was 21 years old.

The public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has also said Kasab had given his age as 21 in his confession and when he was hospitalized for injuries received during the attacks.

Kazmi has asked the court to disregard Kasab''s confession, saying it had been made under duress.

Tahiliyani, who had ordered the medical tests last week, is expected to comment on the report Wednesday.

Kasab would face a maximum of three years in prison if convicted as a minor, but could face the death penalty if convicted as an adult.

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