Buddies' role in 13-yr-old girl's plot to kill granddad heinous, cops want them tried as adults

Alappuzha police, probing the murder of 65-year-old Sivankutty Chettiar at Karuvatta, allegedly by three juveniles at the behest of Chettiar's granddaughter, will press for treating the three accused as adults for the trial. Senior police officials associated with the investigation also said one more youth is likely to be named an accused in the case. Chettiar was allegedly murdered by three teenagers on Sunday at his rented residence at Karuvatta.

The police will cite the heinous nature of the offence and submit a report to the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB). Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, which was added to the Act after the Nirbhaya case, notes that if a child aged 16-18 is alleged to have committed a heinous offence, the JJB can transfer the case to an adult criminal court known as a children's court so that the accused is tried as an adult. JJB makes this decision based on the preliminary assessment conducted to examine a child's capacity to commit the offence.

Juvenile offences under the Act are categorised as petty, serious and heinous. Serious offences call for imprisonment between 3-7 years, while heinous offences constitute everything for which the minimum punishment is 7 years' imprisonment or more. According to police, while the charges against the 13-year-old girl accused of plotting grandfather's murder will come under a serious offence, the rest of the accused face charges under a heinous offence.

"They planned and executed the murder in a gruesome manner. The accused are aged between 16 and 18. We will want them to be tried as adults," said Alappuzha SP Vishnu Pratheep. The police have collected a digital trail of evidence to show that the accused had hatched a plan to kill Chettiar and even streamed the execution live via a video call. Sources hinted that one more teenager, who was in the know, is also under surveillance.

In July 2026, the Supreme Court, while affirming the Patna High Court judgement, directed JJBs to independently evaluate the child's mental capacity, physical capacity, ability to understand the consequences of the offence and the circumstances of its commission, along with the expert report, social reports and witness statements to arrive at a conclusion, according to the Supreme Court observer.

The case in Bihar was related to the murder of a teenager. The JJB had observed that the case should be disposed of by the board itself as the accused didn't have the mental and physical capacity to commit the offence. The Presiding Magistrate, however, disagreed with the opinion and insisted that the accused should be tried as an adult. The decision was contested by the victim's parents, which was upheld by the District Court and the High Court. When the accused filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, the apex court observed that no error of law could be said to have been committed by the High Court. It further said that the JJ shall not be bound by any opinion or recommendation to arrive at a conclusion and shall independently apply its mind to all the material available.

In 2025, Kozhikode police, who submitted the chargesheet against six minors for the alleged murder of 15-year-old Mohammed Shahabaz, haven't made any recommendation for trying the accused as adults in the case.