Pradyuman's father tells juvenile board to treat suspect as adult

New Delhi: A day after the minor accused in the sensational Pradyuman Thakur murder case alleged that he was forced to admit the crime, father of the deceased, Varun Thakur, filed an application before the Juvenile Justice Board on Wednesday demanding that the accused be tried as an adult.

The murder has been termed heinous, barbarous, diabolical, cold blooded and rarest in nature in the application filed by the father.

"The manner in which the throat has been slit of a 7-year-old boy namely Pradyuman in the premises/bath room of the Ryan International School located at Bhondsi, Gurugam by the accused at 8 am as per the prosecution/CBI itself indicates that the present crime is chilling, horrific, monstrous and serious in nature and the accused although being less than 18 years old but being more than 16 years old (a juvenile in conflict with the law) be tried as an adult as per the mandate, warrant and spirit of the amendment carried in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) ACT, 2015 with effect from 15.1. 2016," read the application.

"Pradyuman was brutally murdered by the accused, and the nature of the crime is grave. Hence, we have demanded that he should be tried as an adult, and not as a juvenile," Varun's lawyer Sushil Tekriwal said.

The accused, a Class 11 student, was arrested on November 8 after a breakthrough investigation by CBI. On Tuesday, he allegedly said that the CBI officials tortured him and forced him to admit that he killed the 7-year-old boy.

Meanwhile, the accused's father too has come out stating that his son innocent and unnecessarily being framed in the case. "My son is being tortured, he was hung upside down and brutally thrashed. He is innocent," the father told media persons. The family of the accused continues to insist on his innocence.