The Juvenile Justice Board has convicted two juveniles in connection with the murder of Nido Tania, a 19-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh, but released them on probation for a period of one year.
Nido had died in January last year after allegedly being beaten up by several shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar, following an argument over his appearance and clothing.
The accused were apprehended after relatives of Tania, a college student, alleged he had had an altercation with some shopkeepers at Lajpat Nagar on January 29, after they made fun of his hairstyle.
Story continues below this ad
Principal Magistrate Vishal Singh, Juvenile Justice Board -I, has released the two minor offenders on probation and directed them to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 each.
The Juvenile Justice Board had earlier found them guilty on charges related to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, wrongfully restraining and common intention. During the period of probation, the Juvenile Justice Board will monitor the conduct of the two juveniles.
[related-post]
The chargesheet in the case, filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in May 2014, had named seven persons, including three juveniles, who were accused of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The CBI had dropped murder charges against the accused on the grounds that the incident was not premeditated but the result of an altercation. While the four adult accused are being tried in the sessions court, the other minor is on the run.
Story continues below this ad
The defence counsel for the two minors, advocate Vishesh Raghav, had told the Juvenile Justice Board his clients should be released on probation as they had no history of involvement in other criminal cases.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More