Editorial
Accusing children of crime
A line needs to be drawn
We were simply shocked to learn that children, aged between three months and four years, were made accused by the police in a criminal case. This is not the first time such an incident took place, but this time the two children have been accused of involvement in dacoity. How absurd it sounds! It seems that the investigation officer did not bother to find out about their age. They have been falsely implicated at some stage; their names were not even mentioned in the FIR.Should we call it simple callousness or deliberate mischief? Let's not forget that children having been implicated in criminal cases and getting bail from the court is nothing new. In 2003, when two and a half year old Kashem came to court sitting on his father's lap for bail in Habiganj everyone's sensibilities were deeply hurt. There, too, it was found that the investigation officer did not do his job properly. This must stop. In such sensitive cases, the police have to be better aware of their responsibilities. We have noticed that the children are granted bail, which in other words, means that they are being treated as suspects. Bangladesh was one of the first signatories to the Convention of Rights for a Child (CRC) which we need to live up to by implementing it in toto.
|
|
