Four of the seven persons accused of assaulting Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania at a Lajpat Nagar market in South Delhi on January 29 have been charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
“Following a thorough probe, we have come to the conclusion that the accused assaulted Nido, which led to his death. However, the investigators did not come across any evidence to suggest that the attack was premeditated with an intention to kill. The assault on the victim was apparently the fallout of a sudden fight between him and the accused persons and only a stick was used as a weapon,” said a CBI official.
Accordingly, the CBI on Friday filed a charge sheet against four of the adult accused persons - Pawan, Sunder, Farman and Sunny Uppal - under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 342 (wrongful confinement), 201 (destruction of evidence), 34 (common purpose) and relevant provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Proceedings against the three other juvenile accused would be initiated in the Juvenile Justice Board.
According to Nido’s family, the incident took place after he approached a shopkeeper for directions to his friend’s house and was mocked by the bystanders over his hair style. In a fit of rage, Nido - son of a Congress MLA - allegedly smashed the glass counter of the shop, which led to a heated exchange and then the accused persons assaulted him. Nido died the next day. The post-mortem report revealed that he died due to internal injuries in the brain and lungs.
The incident triggered a >series of protests by the victim’s friends and members of the North Eastern communities living in the Capital. It also drew sharp reactions from political parties and human rights organisations.
The victim’s relatives alleged that after the police were called in to intervene, they took him to the police station and dropped him again at the scene of crime, following which he was again assaulted. However, the police denied the charges stating that he was not assaulted a second time.
The case was >transferred to the CBI after Nido’s parents met Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in February. The Delhi Police had by then arrested the four adult accused and apprehended two of the juveniles for suspected involvement in the case.
