Tearful pleas of a 14-year-old Pakistani boy for forgiveness fell on deaf ears after a court handed him a prison sentence for stealing a kite. “Please give me pardon, I will never touch a kite, my annual paper is on tomorrow,” Arsalan pleaded. The class eight student was handcuffed and produced before a judicial magistrate in Gujranwala city of Punjab province, Geo TV reported Sunday. Arsalan said he was caught by police while he was going to the roof of his house after stealing the kite. [...]
A 16-year-old boy was found by the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) illegally detained, handcuffed and chained to a window at the Sampigehalli police station on Tuesday.
According to a press release, the commission received information that the minor had been detained at the police station since December 17. When a team reached the police station, they found the boy seated on a blanket and handcuffed with a leading chain attached to the bars of a window.
In the release, chairperson of the commission Nina Nayak said that the boy appeared to be in pain and showed several fresh bruises on his torso, arms and legs. He said that he was given little food and was chained since Saturday evening. He claimed that he was picked up by the police on December 17 at around 9.30 p.m. near his home at Sadiq Layout, Thaneersandra, when he was going to a pharmacy to purchase medicines. The boy alleged that he was beaten by several police men at the station.
The release stated that the boy’s parents received a call that he was at the police station. When they went there, they were not allowed to meet him. The boy’s father Dastagi, a welder, reportedly produced documents showing that his son was 16.
Members of Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) made a surprise visit to the central prison and found that 22 minors have been lodged there for several months.
Acting on a complaint, a team headed by commission chairman Vasudeva Sharma visited the jail premises and reviewed case files of all the 22 inmates. During the review, the team found the records of their dental examination, which suggest that all 22 of them are below 18 years of age.
“The complaints received by KSCPCR are grave in nature. Nine juveniles at the observation home in Madiwala revealed that they had spent a few weeks to more than 12 months in judicial custody without proper hearings despite of repeated efforts made by their families to establish their minor status. SICHREM, a human rights organisation, also filed a complaint with the KSCPCR, alleging that two inmates released on bail from the central prison had spent several months in judicial custody despite being minor,” a press release from the child rights commission said. [...]
