Indian court rules :

Mumbai attacks suspect not a minor

INDIA: An Indian court rejected a bid by the lone Islamic militant suspect captured during last year's attacks on Mumbai to have his case transferred to a juvenile court, a report said Saturday.

Lawyer Abbas Kazmi, who is defending Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, said his client had told him that he "had not even reached the age of 17" when the attacks took place last November.

But Judge M.L. Tahiliyani said "forensic experts have corroborated evidence of witnesses... (and) there is no doubt that Kasab was not a minor," according to the Press Trust of India.

The judge said he also accepted the evidence from the jail's superintendent and a medical doctor that Kasab had told them he was 21 years old, the news agency said.

"I am made to believe by the witnesses examined that the accused was 21 years at the time of attack and his date of birth is September 13, as mentioned by him to jailer... and the doctor who examined him," the judge said.

The judge added he also took into account bone and dental tests that indicated Kasab was over the age of 20.

Kasab's lawyer had argued that his client could not be tried by the court as an adult. Kasab faces a string of charges including "waging war" on India, murder, attempted murder and kidnapping.

Mumbai, Sunday, AFP