NEW DELHI: The 16-year-old
Ryan International
student accused of murdering
Gurugram schoolboy
Pradhyumn Thakur
will be tried as an adult, the Juvenile Justice Board ruled on Wednesday.
Sushil Tekriwal
, the advocate representing Pradhyumn's family, confirmed the same to news agency ANI.
"During subsequent proceedings the convict will be considered as an adult (sic)," Tekriwal said.
"I thank the judiciary for the decision. 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," Pradhyumn's father Varun Thakur told ANI after the ruling.
Pradhyumn, a Class 2 student, was found with his throat slit inside a washroom at his school on September 8. The CBI had arrested the minor accused, a schoolmate of Pradhyumn's, on November 8 on the charge of murdering the seven-year-old boy.
According to the agency, the Class 11 student, believed to be weak in his studies, killed Pradhyumn to get the school to declare a holiday in order to defer a scheduled parent-teacher meeting and an examination.
The accused had reportedly confessed to the crime under interrogation, but his family maintains that he is innocent.
Following the 16-year-old's arrest, the victim's parents had emotionally demanded that the accused should be "tried as an adult and hanged".
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