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Teen accused of double murder may be first juvenile to be tried as adult

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 14 February 2017, 5:35 IST

A 17-year-old boy, who was apprehended on 4 February for allegedly strangulating an elderly widow, may be tried as an adult under a new law passed by Parliament in December.

According to NDTV, if the juvenile justice board agrees, the teen, who has allegedly killed two people in the last six months, will be the first to be tried under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection Of Children) Act of 2015.

The new law allows people between 16 and 18 years of age to be tried as adults for serious crimes like murder.

The juvenile, along with his girlfriend, had last year allegedly abducted and murdered a 13-year-old boy for money which he needed for participating in a popular reality dance show, police said.

After being released from a correction home recently, he targeted the 65-year-old widow, Mithilesh Jain, who lived alone in a first-floor residence in BK Dutt colony, police said.

The woman's body was discovered on Monday by her son-in-law but the police had then claimed that it was a case of natural death.

Things took a turn when Jain's relatives informed police that some jewellery, cash, and expensive items, including two mobile phones, were missing from her residence.

The post-mortem report also suggested that she was strangulated, following which police registered a case.

Police traced the boy when he switched on one of the phones, which he had allegedly robbed from Jain and apprehended him today from his residence in Faridabad.

On being questioned, he told the police that he had targeted the woman as he needed money to participate in a reality dance show.

On Sunday night, he went to Jain's house, where he allegedly strangulated her and then placed the body on the bed to make it look like a case of natural death before he fled with the valuables, said the police.

Jain, who had retired from her job at Safdarjung Hospital, which she got after her husband's death, is survived by her son who lives in Singapore, a daughter settled in the US, and another daughter who lives with her chartered accountant husband elsewhere in Delhi, police said.

The woman was planning to leave for Singapore in a few days. The accused is a professional dancer and is training to be a choreographer.

First published: 5 February 2016, 3:17 IST