Police have charged a 14-year-old boy of Tral under provisions of Arms Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and attempt to murder before sending him to a juvenile home in Harwan here.
The juvenile was earlier kept under illegal detention on January 5 following a gunfight between suspected militants and government forces at his house in Aripal which was razed to the ground. However, no militant, dead or alive was found in the debris.
The boy’s family had rejected the forces’ claim that a militant was hiding in their house. But, police took the boy away.
“Charges under arms act, unlawful activities and attempt to murder have been framed against the juvenile by the police. However, a formal charge-sheet is yet to be produced by the police,” said an official associated with juvenile justice delivery system.
“The Juvenile Justice Board that will hear the case of this juvenile will sit after 15 days, because the judiciary has gone for vacations, but he can apply for bail before the board members.”
Initially, the boy was ‘jailed’ in violation of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The JJ Act of 2013 says, “As soon as a juvenile in conflict with law is apprehended by police, he shall be placed under the charge of the special juvenile police unit or the designated police officer, who shall produce the juvenile before the board without any loss of time but within a period of twenty-four hours of his apprehension excluding the time necessary for the journey, from the place where the juvenile was apprehended.”
The law prohibits police from locking up a juvenile or lodge a child in jail.
Taking serious note of the Tral boy’s detention Justice (retired) Hasnain Masoodi, head of a top juvenile justice delivery panel, asked the government to set him free pointing out that it was illegal.
“If the allegation (that a juvenile was detained) is found to be true, action should be taken against the erring officer as per law. I would also suggest that a circular be issued to remind the police (officers) to desist from arresting and detaining a juvenile in future,” Masoodi wrote in a letter to government’s home department and police.