On Wednesday, seven-year-old Pradyumn Thakur’s father filed application in the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) requesting that the 16-year-old alleged accused be tried in an adult court. The matter is likely to come up for hearing on 22 November before the JJB.
As per the new Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection Act) 2015, the age at which one can be tried as an adult has been lowered from 18 to 16. But to get a juvenile tried in the adult court, the prosecution has to prove beyond a doubt to the JJB the accused’s age, and that he has committed a ‘heinous’ crime.
The juvenile arrested for Pradyumn’s murder was born on 3 April 2001, making him over 16 years old.
These are the main points of Pradyumn’s father’s application:
- Pradyumn’s father said his son’s murder was ‘heinous’, ‘diabolical’, ‘barbarous’, ‘cold-blooded’ and ‘rarest in nature’.
- The manner in which seven-year-old Pradyumn’s throat was slit twice with a knife by the juvenile is ‘chilling’, ‘monstrous’, ‘horrific’ and ‘serious’ in nature.
- Pradyumn’s father demands that the proceeding of the current application should be concluded within three months.
- As per the new JJB Act, the board should conduct a preliminary assessment on the accused’s physical and mental capability to commit such a heinous crime. Also the ability to understand the consequence of committing such an offence and the circumstances under which he committed the murder.
- The JJB should call for the accused’s Social Background Report, Social Investigation Report, Physical and Mental Drug Assessment Report to decide on whether the juvenile should be tried as an adult.
- Pradyum’s post-mortem report indicates the seriousness of the injury that was inflicted on him, and that the crime committed by the accused is ‘gruesome in nature without any doubt’.
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