This is the first instance in Odisha of a minor being tried and found guilty under the amended law. The 2015 amendment empowers juvenile justice boards to treat as adults those minors who are accused of heinous crimes. It came about after the 2012 Nirbhaya case where one of the suspects was a juvenile and escaped the gallows.
In Odisha, the teenager was a neighbour of the deceased and his crime had triggered outrage across the state.
The child went missing while playing outside her house on July 14, 2020. Her skeletal remains were found near a pond 500 metres from her home nine days later. As the death mystery deepened and Nayagarh police failed to unravel the truth, her parents attempted self-immolation outside the assembly in November that year, drawing the govt’s attention.
Four days later, the govt constituted an (SIT) led by an ADG, Arun Bothra, to probe the case under the supervision of the Orissa high court. The minor was detained in December 2020.
“We placed adequate evidence, backed by scientific and forensic investigations, against the accused. The murder motive was sexual assault. We had found semen stains on the girl’s dress,” an SIT officer said.
According to public prosecutor Chittaranjan Kanungo, 31 witnesses were examined during the trial. “Had the accused not been a minor, he would have been sentenced to life imprisonment or capital punishment,” Kanungo said.
Defence lawyer Bijay Mishra said he would challenge the verdict in the high court. The deceased’s mother had been demanding a CBI probe.