The JJ Marg police on Monday filed an application with the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) seeking permission to prosecute two boys, aged 16 and 17, who allegedly kidnapped and murdered a four-year-old girl, as adults.
Dilip Shinde, senior inspector of JJ Marg police station, said, “We took the decision based on the gravity of the crime and on Monday filed an application seeking permission to try them as adults in accordance with the new provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act.”
The act was amended to allow minors aged between 16 and 18 years as adults, in regular courts, if they are accused of heinous crimes such as rape and murder.
The girl went missing on December 5 and the crime was discovered on December 24. According to the police, the two boys took the girl to the house of the 17-year-old and used chloroform on her. They panicked after blood started oozing out of the girl’s nose and strangled her with a mobile charger, the police said. The police believe the 17-year-old boy stole the chloroform from the laboratory of his college in south Mumbai.
The two initially demanded Rs1 crore, the police said, but later brought reduced this to Rs28 lakh. The girl’s parents informed the police, who picked up the 17-year-old from his home on the basis of his call records. The 16-year-old was picked up on the basis of the first accused’s statement.
{{/usCountry}}The two initially demanded Rs1 crore, the police said, but later brought reduced this to Rs28 lakh. The girl’s parents informed the police, who picked up the 17-year-old from his home on the basis of his call records. The 16-year-old was picked up on the basis of the first accused’s statement.
{{/usCountry}}An officer from JJ Marg police station said, “The two accused had plan the crime for a month. The 17-year-old stole chloroform from the college laboratory two weeks in advance and kept it at his home.”
The police added that the 16-year-old boy made ransom calls and helped destroy evidence by throwing the girl’s body onto the terrace of a building opposite her house, the police said.
The police said they were checking the whether the 17-year-old had a criminal record. “We have learnt the accused has taken lots of money on loan from others and this could be the reason why he planned the kidnapping,” said an officer.
Read: Dongri murder: Second case where teens may be tried as adults
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