Law flouted in sentencing 121 children
Mobile courts are sentencing children to different terms of jail, flouting the Children Act.
According to the act, the Shishu Adalot (Juvenile Court) will only hold the trial of an offence committed by a child.
However, as many as 121 inmates were found in Tongi Shishu Unnayan Kendra (child correction center). The mobile courts under the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) sentenced these children to jail.
The High Court clearly ordered that only the Juvenile Court can only hold the trial of children.
It is unlawful even for lower courts to hold the trial of children.
In a case in 2007, the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal sentenced a child to death as he had confessed to his involvement in raping and killing.
Later, the High Court granted the child unconditional bail because the trial was not carried out in the Juvenile Court.
The high court gave a similar judgment on 15 December 2016.
A Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Bhola handed down lifetime imprisonment to 15-year old Abdul Jalil.
The High Court later annulled the verdict saying that Jalil was considered as an adult and his trial was done following a flawed procedure. He was sentenced to 14 years in jail.
The HC asked the state to compensate him Tk 5 million.
There are 121 inmates currently living in Tongi’s Child Development Centre, sentenced by the mobile courts between 3 May and 10 August of this year.
Of them, 28 are 17-year-old while 26 are 16-year-old, 20 are 15, 16 are 14, 11 are 12, 7 are 13 and 12 of them are between 8 and 12.
The age of one of them is not mentioned.
Some 75 of them are sentenced for six months in for stealing while 34 are sentenced for one year for drugs.
A child was sentenced for six months in jail for threatening a government official.
A child is serving one month’s imprisonment in Jashore child development centre.
The caretaker of the centre, Abdullah Al Masud, said the child was sentenced for child marriage. As many as 330 children live in the facility.
Tongi child development centre’s probation officer AKM Obaidullah Al Masud told Prothom Alo that 99 out of total 121 children were sentenced by the mobile courts under the RAB headquarters.
The guardians of the children cannot have their children freed despite several attempts as the mobile courts do not send its documents to additional district magistrates.
Obaidullah said Tongi child development centre is currently detaining 1,001 children against its capacity of just 300.
When asked, RAB media cell official Mizanur Rahman referred Prothom Alo to RAB executive magistrate Sarwar Alam for comments.
But Sarwar was not available for comments.
*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Galib Ashraf.
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