A 17-year-old boy, who was released from his juvenile detention centre for “good behaviour”, was arrested on Friday for murdering a senior citizen in Delhi. The boy, who had been convicted five months ago for kidnapping and killing a child, served two months in the home before he was let out. The Delhi Police now want to charge him under the new Juvenile Justice law, which provides that juveniles between the ages of 16 and 18 can be tried as adults for severe crimes. This would make him the first such case.

The police said the boy robbed 65-year-old Mithilesh Jain, a retired army officer, after strangling her. On Monday, the boy had entered Jain’s house asking for some drinking water, and attacked her when she went inside. The boy is believed to have taken gold jewellery, an iPad, two mobile phones and some cash from Jain’s house. The police tracked him after he made a call from one of the stolen mobile phones.

The accused is the son of an electrician, and had committed both crimes to raise money and enter a reality dance show on television, police said. According to the Times of India, he and his girlfriend had killed the 13-year-old child after his father had failed to pay a ransom of Rs 60,000.