But the case rattled the Barak Valley, sparking hours of confrontation as demonstrators jammed National Highway 6 and demanded a hard‑line response from authorities.
Police hauled the 17‑year‑old – then 17 years and five months old – into custody within a week of the August 1 murder, compiling forensic, digital and eyewitness data that later fed into a chargesheet filed in September against five suspects.
Under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the Hailakandi board reviewed a psychological assessment, a medical report from Silchar Medical College and a preliminary investigation before deciding the accused's capacity to grasp the gravity of the crime, ultimately ruling for an adult trial.
Senior advocate Gautam Ghose welcomed the ruling, while human‑rights lawyer Taniya Laskar cautioned that public outrage should not override statutory safeguards, and the victim’s relatives expressed hope that the age of the accused would not shield anyone from accountability. The court will now schedule the adult trial, with a possibility of an appeal to the Gauhati High Court.