Could a young boy, an infant for that matter, commit such crime?
Pakistani police officers filed attempted murder charges against nine-month old Muhammad Mosa Khan and his family for allegedly throwing stones and wooden rocks at them in a raid with gas company officials.
9-month old Baby Muhammad sat in his grandfather's lap and holding a bottle as he and his family appeared in court to answer allegations of Inspector Kashif Muhammad cited in his First Incident Report. His 50-year old grandfather, Muhammad Yaseen assisted him in placing his thumb mark in the bail bond sheet.
The baby's family found the charges absurd. "How can such as small child be implicated in any case? What kind of police do we have?" Yaseen told AFP.
Reports claimed that gas company officials and police conducted house-to-house collection for gas payments on February 1. "The police and gas company officials came without any notice and started removing gas meters from houses. Residents started protesting and blocked the road but ended the protest," Yaseen said in his interview with AFP.
Few weeks later, Baby Muhammad and his family were implicated in what Ahmed, the baby's father, tag as "fake charges".
The court judge, Rafaqat Ali refused to dismiss the charges, but allowed bail and recessed the case until April 12.
The family's lawyer, Irfan Tarar, criticized the judge's decision, saying that the case filed against the child should have been dismissed. "The court should have simply referred the minor's case to the High Court to drop the charges against the innocent child and acquit him from the case," he told AFP.
Tarar also criticized the police on its operations. "This case also exposes the incompetence of our police force," he added.
Police Senior Superintendent Rana Abdul Jabbar questioned the charges. "A nine month old can never commit such a crime," he told The Express Tribune and ordered the incident to be investigated.
"This incident took place due to sheer misunderstanding on the police's part and was not done on purpose," he said.
Already, the inspector who charged the 9-month old baby of attempted murder had been suspended as ordered by authorities. Punjab's Chief Minister said that police forces involved in charging the 9-month old baby with attempted murder will be liable for their actions.
Under the Pakistani Penal Law, children under the age of 12 cannot be held accountable for criminal offenses.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
