Ryan International School bus conductor Ashok Kumar, who was arrested as a suspect in the murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur, has been released on bail. Kumar returned home after spending 75 days in confinement.
Pradyuman, a Class 2 student, was found lying in a pool of blood in a toilet in the school on September 8 with his throat slit. The incident triggered angry protests by his parents, who were shocked by the ghastly murder and demanded a CBI probe into the incident.
The Gurugram Police initially arrested Kumar as a suspect in the case saying he had confessed to the crime. The cops said Kumar had killed the boy after he resisted a sexual assault bid.
However, the CBI, in a sensational twist in the case, announced that it had detained a Class XI boy of the same school, suggesting that Kumar may have been framed.
The CBI also said it had not found any incriminating evidence against Kumar in the case.
Kumar on Wednesday confirmed the allegations made against the Gurugram Police and said he was tortured by the cops and forced to confess to killing Pradyuman, according to an India Today report.
Kumar returned to his home in very poor health on Wednesday, and did not speak much. His wife claimed the local cops thrashed her husband and gave him electric shocks to force him to confess to the crime.
"We knew from the beginning that he wasn't involved in the murder. The Gurgaon Police did not carry out a proper investigation. We have faith in the judiciary," Kumar's wife reportedly said.
"The police beat him up, hung him upside down, tortured him and even sedated him to make him confess," she told ANI.
Kumar's family had earlier this month said they have decided to file a case against the Gurugram Police for framing him.
"Now it is almost clear that my son Ashok was framed and made a scapegoat. We have decided to file a case against Gurugram Police Special Investigation Team officers who framed and used torture and even drugged him to confess before the media that he had committed the crime," Ashok's father Amirchand had said.
Amirchand said the family was seeking financial help from the villagers in filing the case.
"Villagers are with us and they all want us to demand justice for Ashok and action against the irresponsible police officials," he said.
