This story is from January 21, 2021

Nayagarh rape & murder accused to be tried as adult

The 17-year-old boy, facing charges of rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Nayagarh district in July, will face trial as an adult in the children’s court, said the juvenile justice board (JJB) on Wednesday. The court of the additional district judge (ADJ) is the designated children’s court in Nayagarh.
Nayagarh rape & murder accused to be tried as adult
BJP has been demanding a CBI probe into the girl’s death
BHUBANESWAR: The 17-year-old boy, facing charges of rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Nayagarh district in July, will face trial as an adult in the children’s court, said the juvenile justice board (JJB) on Wednesday. The court of the additional district judge (ADJ) is the designated children’s court in Nayagarh.
Under the amended Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act in the aftermath of Nirbhaya case, a child in conflict with law between the age of 16 years and 18 years shall be tried as an adult in the children’s court if he is allegedly involved in a heinous offence.
This is perhaps the first such case in the state where a minor, accused of committing a heinous crime, would face trial as an adult under the amended JJ Act.
“We had appealed to the JJB to shift the case to the children’s court as the boy has been involved in a heinous offence. The order has come in our favour,” a senior SIT officer told
TOI
.
Notably, a Pocso court in Nayagarh had on January 5 termed the accused as minor (17 years) on the basis of his birth and school certificates and transferred the hearing to the JJB. Had the accused faced trial in JJB, he would have got a maximum imprisonment of three years upon his conviction. If the accused is held guilty in the children’s court, he may get a jail term up to 12 or 15 years. Under the amended JJ Act, the minor accused would not get capital punishment for such a heinous crime.
“Since the case would now be tried in the children’s court, our earlier plea near the JJB for conducting layered voice analysis (LVA) on the accused would now be heard by the children’s court,” the SIT officer said.
The minor accused had earlier refused to grant his permission to undergo narco-analysis and brain-mapping. However, his consent is not required to subject him to LVA. According to the procedure, only the court’s permission is required to conduct the LVA on the accused.

Police said the LVA relies on voice frequency to ascertain whether a person is lying. “Variations in voice are taken into account while conducting the LVA. Unlike polygraph, the LVA does not need wires or sensors to be attached to the body of the accused. Only voice would be recorded and examined,” a police officer said.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
author
About the Author
Debabrata Mohapatra

Debabrata Mohapatra is an Assistant Editor at The Times of India, Bhubaneswar. He had been writing for TOI from Puri since 2006 before joining the Bhubaneswar bureau in August 2010. He covers crime, law & order and Congress.

End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA