Nayagarh: A 17-year old boy has been languishing in Khuntabandha sub-jail in the district on a theft charge due to submission of wrong age-proof in court by Odagaon police.
The victim is a native of Bandhasahi village under Odagaon police limits in this district. Odagaon police picked him up from his house August 25 on charge of theft and produced him in court which later, remanded him in judicial custody.
As a result, the minor is languishing in Khuntabandh sub-jail for last three months. Questions are being raised as to why the police have sent the minor to a jail instead of a probation home.
The matter came to the fore when Kishore Chandra Mohapatra, a member of the district juvenile justice council, visited the sub-jail a few days back and came to know about the plight of the minor. He later discussed the matter with the minor’s mother when the latter showed him the certificate obtained from the school from where he has passed.
The certificate mentions the victim to have been born February 5, 2002. The victim’s mother said that the minor was arrested on theft charge to which she objected but police refused to listen and threatened to send her to jail if she opens her mouth. She has demanded justice for her son.
Mohapatra, on behalf of the juvenile justice council, has requested the JMFC court to probe the matter afresh as the victim is 17. The police action of showing a minor as a major and forwarding him to a jail has raised doubts.
When contacted, Mohapatra said after coming to know about the minor’s plight, the council has moved Odagaon JMFC court requesting it to direct a re-probe in the case. When contacted, police refused to speak on the issue.
A police official on the condition of anonymity said, during a probe by the IIC (in-charge) of the Odagaon police station, the Aadhaar card of the boy mentions his age as 20 for which he was arrested and sent to jail.
PNN
