Pradyuman murder case: Accused class XI student to be tried as adult

The accused Juvenile will be produced in court on December 22

The 16-year-old student of Gurgaon's Ryan International School, who had been accused of the murder of Pradyuman Thakur, will be treated as an adult, the Juvenile Justice Board said on Wednesday, days after it denied him bail.

 

He will be produced in court on Friday, the board said. If convicted, he will stay in a correctional home till he is 21 years old and then be transferred to a jail", said Sushil Tekriwal, lawyer of Pradyuman's family.

 

"It is a historic verdict in such heinous offences. What happened in Nirbhaya case that the juvenile will be free in 3 years, such an instance will not be repeated, the maximum length of imprisonment will be awarded to the accused, the stringent and severe prosecution will follow in the sessions court.  It is a landmark judgement that JJB has given," the lawyer told Business Standard

 

Pradyuman's father thanked the judiciary for the decision.

 

Speaking on the Juvenile Board's decision, Varun Thakur, Pradyuman's father said, "We always knew that the journey is long but we will go till the end to get justice for my child and all other children who might be vulnerable."

 

On Friday, the Juvenile Board took cognisance of the psychological report of the accused. The report emphasised that the juvenile was well aware of the consequences of the crime.

 

The Class XI student, who is accused of murdering seven-year-old Pradyuman, was produced before the JJB again on Wednesday and remanded to another 14 days in judicial custody.

 

He will be lodged in an observation home in Faridabad during this period and produced before the JJB on December 20.

 

The cold-blooded murder case of Pradyuman took a new dimension after the CBI trashed the probe by the Gurugram police and gave a clean chit to bus conductor Ashok Kumar, who was arrested with the charges of murder and sexual assault in connection with the case, and arrested the juvenile.

 

Pradyuman was found in a pool of blood with his throat slit inside Ryan International School in Gurugram.