Gurugram schoolboy's death: Court frames charges against accused

GURUGRAM: A sessions court here on Tuesday framed charges against the youth accused of killing a seven-year-old boy at a private school in Bhondsi here, according to an official order. “Prince” was allegedly killed by an older boy in 2017, inside the school’s washroom. The accused, 16 years old at the time of the incident, has been in detention since.

The court has barred the media from using the names of the juvenile accused and the victim. While the juvenile accused was named "Bholu" by the court, the victim was named "Prince" and the school was referred to as "Vidyalaya". In October last year, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) ordered that the accused will be treated as an adult.

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The court of additional district and sessions judge Tarun Singal framed the charges of murder against Bholu under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, Sushil Tekriwal, the counsel representing Prince said. The trial in the case will start from February 20 and the court has asked the CBI to produce its witnesses, he said. During the hearing on Tuesday, both the parties, including the counsel for CBI, were present.

"We have been fighting for justice for the last five years. After five years, the trial of the case will start. I have full faith in the judiciary and may the culprit be given the harshest punishment. It has been a long time but I hope my son gets justice," Prince's father said. The first hearing in the case was held in the court of Judge Tarun Singal on October 31 last year and Bholu was considered as an adult.

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But Bholu's counsel argued that they would appeal against the JJB's order to treat the accused as an adult and urged the court to give the next date after a long gap. The court had then fixed November 19 as the next date. After the boy’s murder on September 8, 2017, a bus driver was the prime suspect in the murder and was sent to jail. But when CBI took charge of the investigation, “Bholu”, then a Class 11 student of the same school, was found allegedly to have killed the boy, and was taken in custody.