21-YR-OLD GETS LIFE TERM FOR MURDERING MINOR IN 2016

A sessions court in Biharsharif awarded life imprisonment to a man on Monday for killing a 16-year-old boy in 2016. The accused was a minor too when the incident took place, police said.

The court slapped a fine of ₹10,000 on the 21-year-old accused and directed the District Legal Services Authority to provide compensation to the victim’s parents.

District prosecution officer (DPO) Dilip Kumar said that the court of additional district and session judge Kanhaiya Ji Choudhary on Monday convicted the accused and awarded him life term under the IPC Section 302 (murder), and Sections 15 and 18 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

“We sought life term for the then minor accused because he had committed a heinous crime,” said Dilip, adding that it was possibly the first such conviction in the state under the amended law, which became effective in January 2016.

The 16-year-old victim was abducted for a ransom of ₹50 lakh and subsequently murdered on May 1, 2016. His decomposed body was recovered after five days from Pirbigha locality under Hulasganj police station of Jehanabad district.

According to the FIR lodged by the victim’s father, three others, besides the main accused, were involved in the incident. A coaching institute owner allegedly provided a motorcycle to the accused for committing the crime. The accused took the minor on the pretext of playing cricket, following which he committed the crime.