The youngest man convicted in the fatal 2012 gang rape of a woman in India was released from a reform house in Delhi on Sunday, having carried out his three-year sentence there.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets to oppose his departure, arguing that he should not have been able to leave until he could prove that he had changed, the Associated Press reported. The parents of the victim reportedly led the demonstration.
On December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old woman and her male friend were approached by a group of six men who tricked them into boarding a bus they had commandeered. Once inside, the men attacked the woman and her friend before taking turns raping the woman.
The injuries she sustained from being penetrated with a metal rod were so severe that her intestines had to be removed once she was taken to the hospital. She died two days after the attack, which sparked massive protests across the country.
Earlier this month, the victim's mother named her as Jyoti Singh.
On Sept. 10, 2013, the men were found guilty of all eight charges against them, including rape and murder.
The Delhi High Court turned down a petition to extend the young man's stay at the reform house on Friday, stating that it could not amend a maximum sentence, the AP reported.
Upon the young man's release Sunday, he was transported to a children's rights facility. Because he was a minor when he committed the crime, his identity has been withheld from the courts, the BBC reported.
Of the remaining five who were accused, four received and are currently appealing the death penalty by hanging. A fifth man, the bus driver, died in prison.