Ryan schoolboy murder: Class XI student accused of killing Pradyuman will be treated as adult, says Juvenile Justice Board
The Juvenile Justice Board, Gurugram has transferred the case to District And Sessions Court and the hearing will begin from December 22.
Published: 20th December 2017 01:07 PM | Last Updated: 21st December 2017 10:33 AM | A+A A-
Gurugram CBI team produced the 16-year-old accused in the murder of Pradyuman Thakur to the Juvenile Justice Board in Gurugram on Wednesday. Juvenile Justice Board ordered to treat the minor as an adult. PTI Photo
NEW DELHI: The 16-year-old Class XI student of Ryan International School accused of murdering seven-year-old Pradhyuman Thakur, a Class II student in the same school, will be now tried as an adult, the Juvenile Justice Board, Gurgaon ruled in response to separate pleas by the CBI and the victim’s father.
“While delivering the verdict, the Board contended that the crime allegedly committed by the 16-year-old accused was heinous... The Board also held that the circumstances point out that the accused was mature enough to understand the consequences of his act,” a CBI official said. The accused will now be tried for murder under Section 302 of the IPC.
He will be produced before the sessions court on Friday, which is likely to send him to judicial custody. If so, he will be lodged in prison.
The CBI had arrested the accused teenager on November 8 for the murder of Pradhyuman, who was found with his throat slit with a knife in a school toilet on September 8.
As per the amended Juvenile Justice Act, juveniles between 16 and 18 years of age accused of heinous crimes can be tried under the IPC sections after the Board’s assessment and approval.
If accused tried as juvenile
His identity (name, photo, etc) cannot be revealed
Maximum punishment not more than three years
Serves sentence in correction home
Will be kept in ‘place of safety’ during trial
What happens now
Can be sentenced for more than three years, but won’t get life imprisonment or death sentence
Can be tried as adult and will have to serve sentence in jail instead of in correction home
Punishment as per Indian Penal Code not as per juvenile justice laws
Juveniles tried as adults
March 2016: A 17-year-old boy kidnapped a Class XI student from her school, made her drink beer and raped her in a room in Noida
April 2017: A Mercedes driven by a juvenile killed a business consultant in North Delhi’s Civil Lines area
October 2017: A juvenile and his friend went to Sanjay Rana’s house for renting a room and shoot them.
A country-made pistol with six cartridges recovered from juvenile.
