A 9-month old murderer? What?!
Relatives of a 9-month old Pakistani baby charged with attempted murder in Lahore, Pakistan have taken him into hiding on Tuesday, in a case that has got all eyes on Pakistan’s dysfunctional criminal justice system.
Baby Musa Khan showed up in court last week, charged with attempted murder along with his father and grandfather after a mob protesting against gas cuts and price increases stoned police and gas company workers trying to collect overdue bills.
“Police are vindictive. Now they are trying to settle the issue on personal grounds, that’s why I sent my grandson to Faisalabad for protection,” the baby’s grandfather, Muhammad Yasin, told Reuters, referring to a central Pakistani city.
Musa is on bail and due to appear at the next court hearing on April 12th but Yasin said he is not sure if he would take him to court for the case.
“There is immense pressure on me from various corners,” he said.
During his first appearance in court last week, the baby cried while his fingerprints were taken by a court official. The baby, later sucked on a bottle of milk and tried to grab the microphones as his grandfather spoke to the media.
“He does not even know how to pick up his milk bottle properly, how can he stone the police?” Yasin asked journalists at the court last Thursday.
Musa was apparently charged because an assistant sub-inspector complained in a crime report that he was beaten up by Musa’s whole family which lead to him injuring his head.
The case has once again got all eyes on the dysfunction in Pakistan’s police and justice system.
Poorly trained and underpaid police are often accused for abusing human rights and of corruption. Many of them are not even qualified to write a crime report.
Commanders say they are not at fault and stated that this year’s federal budget gave the military $6 billion and the police a miserable $686 million.
Rasa Sanaullah Khan, the provincial law minister, told Reuters that the provincial chief minister ordered an investigation into the charges against the 9-month-old and that a policeman had been suspended.