Ryan murder: From main accused, bus conductor becomes prime witness
In a drastic turn of events, the bus conductor, initially the main accused in the Ryan School murder, has become a prime witness. The CBI has named in its chargesheet a 16-year-old student as the main accused in the killing of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur, saying "there's sufficient evidence for prosecution." Conductor Ashok Kumar, who claimed he was framed, has been given a clean chit.
The murder that shook the country
On September 8, Pradyuman was found dead with his throat slashed in a toilet at Ryan International School, Gurugram. According to the post mortem report, the cause of death was "shock and haemorrhage" An external injury was caused due to a sharp single-edged weapon which led to his death. The incident caused outrage as angry parents all over demanded more accountability from schools.
The police and the CBI had drastically different findings
Within 24 hours, police had arrested Kumar, a school bus conductor. They claimed Kumar had confessed. But Kumar insisted he was framed; he was allegedly made to sign on blank paper. In November, the CBI announced a Class XI student as the prime suspect and arrested him: it was the same person who had first alerted the school authorities of the crime.
CBI threatened to shoot family, alleges juvenile's father
Not long after, the father of the juvenile then made similar claims as Kumar's family: he said his son is innocent but confessed only because CBI tortured and threatened him. "CBI officers threatened to shoot his entire family if he didn't confess," his father alleged. This came a day after the juvenile himself, for the first time, claimed he is being framed.
Teenager to be tried as adult, JJB rules
In a setback for the teenager, the Juvenile Justice Board ruled in December that he will be tried as an adult. It based its order on psychological evaluation of the teenager, which indicated he was hyper-aggressive and restless. He was mentally and physically capable of committing the offense, it observed. The Board also noted he had confessed at first, but later retracted.
Kumar now named among 11 prime witnesses
In its chargesheet, the CBI said there was "no evidence...to prove involvement of Ashok Kumar" and requested his discharge in the case. Instead, he has been named among about 50 witnesses, 11 of them prime. The chargesheet also contains evidences, forensic reports and relevant documents.
But Pradyuman's family unhappy with the 'very weak' chargesheet
However, Pradyuman's family isn't satisfied. Terming the chargesheet 'very weak,' his father said, "They have not named the school management, owners of the school and the Gurgaon police officials who are also culprits in the case." "Giving clean chit to Ashok does not speak about the foul play by the cops," he added. The prosecution said they will now request fast-tracking of the case.
