New Delhi, Mar 11 (NDTV): At 13, she was kidnapped, gang-raped and tortured with lit cigarettes. Ten years on, trial will finally begin in the case after a court today rejected an appeal by the man who, along with five others, allegedly sexually assaulted her inside a moving car in Lucknow.

A fast-track court in Lucknow today ruled that Gaurav Shukla, the main accused, was not a minor when the crime was committed, which means he will be tried as an adult.

Gaurav, the nephew of former Samajwadi Party lawmaker Arun Shukla, had challenged a juvenile board that had twice pronounced him above 18 during the rape. The court today accepted the board's decision.

Gaurav Shukla has remained free all these years and is married.

After years of delay, the case was transferred to a special fast track court set up under new stronger laws enacted after the 2012 Delhi gang-rape.

"I have had to suffer culturally, socially and physically. The court case has gone on endlessly. The day I get justice will be the beginning of a new life," the survivor, now 23, has said.

Two accused have died; two others were sentenced for 10 years and the third was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Months after the incident, which came to be known as the "Ashiana rape case" because of the neighbourhood where the girl was found, the juvenile board declared Gaurav Shukla a minor based on his claim in a separate case.

In 2006, a woman's organization raised funds to hire a lawyer for the survivor, who then challenged Gaurav's claim.

Jalaj Gupta, the lawyer for the rape survivor, said in court that Gaurav used forged school documents to hide his age and his birth certificate proved that he was 18 at the time of the incident.

This case dragged on for four years and in 2010, the court rejected the juvenile board's order.

It took the juvenile board another three years to decide on Gaurav's age and when it did, he challenged the ruling.