Juvenile’s kin turn up, say he’s minor, used to be bright student

“We’re least bothered about him, we had broken contact with him long before he committed the alleged crimes. In fact, we’re seeing him almost after a year. It was only because somebody from the juvenile home persuaded us to come that we have made the trip. After we testify, we will never be coming back,” said his elder brother, who was in town with his father.

They also brought along the class VI school certificate of the accused according to which he is 14 years old. It also says he scored 55 per cent marks in the annual examination, with 67 per cent in English.

“By our village standards, he was a bright student. He never failed in any subject, and took tuitions along with a Brahmin boy in the evenings. We thought he would have turned out fine. In 2012, after finishing his class VI, he was spending his vacation when he suddenly left home for Chandigarh one day without informing us. Things went downhill after that as he went astray,” said his father, a farmer from Baswar Khurd village near Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh.

After coming to the city, the boy initially stayed with his elder brother, who worked in Mohali, but soon left his place to live independently. “He got addicted to drugs. I used to be away for work, he started mixing up with boys from Badheri and Palsora and soon started abusing ‘fluids’ (whitener, thinner etc). I tried to get him to work for a motor mechanic, but he was not interested. I soon went back home as father is getting old and a I have a wife and children to support. But he continued to live his own life after which we gave up on him,” said his brother.

The family came to know of the criminal cases against the minor when a Mohali police official visited their village to get the school certificate earlier. “But we were not surprised. He claims he is innocent, but it hardly matters. A woman from the juvenile home called us a few days ago and persuaded us to help him out just once as it was his last chance to prove that he was a juvenile. Therefore, we made this arduous trip. We are desperate to go back as my wife is alone and we have to feed the cattle,” the brother said.

His father said that he could not understand what made his son move to the city. “He had visited his brother in Chandigarh once before. He returned a second time with no aim in mind. If only he had stayed back and continued his studies! There is no drug abuse in our village and life is simpler. Today when we met him briefly, we asked him to shun drugs and study in the juvenile home, even though he’s already spoiled his life. He promised us he would study,” the father added.

After they testified, the court adjourned the hearing until Friday when the defence would produce additional documents regarding the boy’s age.