Theft, Assault
Court accepts case against 7-yr-old girl
A seven-year-old stood in the dock at a Dhaka court yesterday, accused of committing theft and assaulting another child of her age.
Her mother and two brothers, co-accused in the case, were also in the dock.
The court of Senior Judicial Magistrate Afroza Sheuly took into cognisance the charges against the girl, Sampa, her mother Aniccha Begum and brothers Jasim and Wasim. And it granted them bail.
Lawyers and litigants on the court premises were shocked to see a child accused in a criminal case.
Asked about the case, President of Dhaka Bar Association Borhan Uddin said, “A girl of seven cannot be accused of criminal offence, and she cannot be brought under trial as per provisions of the Penal Code … The charges against a seven-year-old cannot be punishable.”
Sampa is a student of class one at Chhoto Tasulla Government Primary School at Nawabganj in Dhaka district. She along with the other accused surrendered to the court yesterday in response to an earlier court order.
According to the prosecution, on August 1 Sampa and eight-year-old Akash, son of Mohammad Aziz, while bathing in a pond picked a quarrel. At one stage, the girl hit Akash in the eye, causing a minor injury. This led to clashes between the two families.
Aziz filed the case with the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court, Dhaka, on August 29. And the court issued summons asking the four to appear before it on October 7.
Sampa’s father Abdur Rahman told this correspondent that his neighbour Aziz filed the case concealing the actual age of his daughter, who is now seven. But the complainant mentioned that she is 12, he added.
Rahman broke down in tears, saying, the case was filed only to harass his family members.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
