Ryan murder: Never did it, was forced to confess says juvenile

CBI officials say that this is not a setback to the investigation.

In a complete u-turn the juvenile has retracted his statement given to the CBI in connection with the Ryan murder case. He told a team of CBI officials and a legal cum probation officer of the district child protection unit that he was forced to make the confession.

The CBI had earlier told the court that the child in conflict had confessed to killing Pradyuman Thakur. He is also alleged to have told the CBI that he committed the murder as he had exam phobia and wanted the same postponed.

CBI officials say that this is not a setback to the investigation. The court does not consider a confessional statement before an investigation agency of evidentiary value. However what is important is that the confession has led to the recovery of a weapon and hence there is credence to the statement.

A team of CBI officials on reaching the observation home in Faridabad learnt that the juvenile's family members had met him. According to the norms meetings are not allowed on Mondays. Tuesday and Friday are the allocated days for the parents to meet the juvenile. The CBI has now asked the authorities for the CCTV footage to examine if any such meeting had taken place.

In his latest disposal, the juvenile said that on September 8 he reached the school at 8 am. He was asked to wait near the water cooler by a friend. He said he then went up to the music room to speak with his teacher who had recently lost her father.

However the teacher was not there and then he decided to go to the washroom. He heard the screams of a boy and that is when he ran out and informed the gardener and then a teacher about what he had seen.

OneIndia News