A 16-year-old student of Ryan International School, Gurgaon, has been accused recently of the heinous murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday tried to reconstruct the murder, taking the Class 11 student to several places.
The investigative agency interrogated the Class 11 student for six hours before taking him to certain knife shops in order to ascertain where the murder weapon may have been bought, NDTV reported.
The channel also quoted unnamed sources, who claim that the 16-year-old will be taken to the school so that he can retrace his steps in the scene of the September 8 murder.
CCTV footage
After reviewing the CCTV footage, the CBI zeroed in on the Class 11 student, who was seen near the toilet. The 16-year-old was also seen holding a knife by a few other students.
What’s interesting to note is that the CBI has based its suspicion on the same CCTV footage that was used by Gurgaon police to levy allegations against the bus conductor, who was formerly accused.
Psychiatric counselling
After a background check of the 16-year-old student, the CBI found that he had gone through psychiatric counselling for a year and had anger management issues. One of the reasons for CBI’s allegation is that, during questioning, they found out that the teenager had a reputation for being “rowdy” and picking fights with classmates.
India Today reported that the Class XI student was a known bully and for his violent behaviour. He was also, allegedly, often seen carrying a knife by other students inside the school premises. The report also quoted a student, who did not wish to be named, who alleged that the teenager was addicted to pornography and often talked about sex. “He always talked about sex and watched blue films even during school hours,” said the student.
While the CBI tries to scramble together solid evidence against the accused, the agency has continuously highlighted unrelated matter such as the fact that the teenager is not good at academics.
This description of the boy is seriously disturbing. It’s hard enough to handle fears as a parent.https://t.co/cMzjqQ9jq5
— Ra Ch Na (@raggedtag) November 9, 2017
The confession
Livemint reports that the CBI told a juvenile court that the Class 11 student had confessed to the crime in front of his father, an independent witness and a social welfare board member. Allegedly, the motive was to delay an examination, however, the investigating agency still has to find incriminating evidence against the minor. Investigations revealed that the teenager had told a few of his classmates that they would not need to prepare for exams as there would be a school holiday on the day of the murder – September 8.
#TheDailyFix: The Ryan International School murder case exposes the rot in investigation agencies https://t.co/Gc4l9Nj7dA | @sruthisagar pic.twitter.com/6NJgn87lca
— scroll.in (@scroll_in) November 9, 2017
The murder weapon
The CBI says that the teenager flushed the knife, used to kill Pradyuman, down the toilet. However, there’s no forensic evidence that links the teenager to the murder weapon.
A CBI officer, on condition of anonymity, told The Times of India, “The knife was bought by the juvenile from a local shop and he brought it with him inside the school. This is the only knife that was recovered, and so the claim of the Gurugram Police that Ashok Kumar brought it inside the school and used it to kill the boy has no basis whatsoever.”
All the allegations, however, do not incriminate the Class 11 student in any way as they are all circumstantial evidence. The CBI is trying to now recreate the crime scene for the teenager in order to establish a strong case. The family and lawyers of Pradyuman demand that the accused be tried as an adult.
Feature image source: Twitter
