Sodomy case: Juvenile suspects jailed for two days

FAISALABAD: Two children arrested by Jhang Bazaar police in a sodomy case were on Thursday sent to Borstal Jail on for two days. The suspects did not have a counsel to move their bail application. Responding to Judicial Magistrate Rae Muhammad Khan Kharal’s question about bail application, the suspects said their parents could not afford to hire a lawyer. The court has ordered medical examination of the victim and the suspects. Kharal earlier asked the police why the children were in handcuffs. Assistant Sub Inspector Shehbaz, the investigation officer in the case, said: “They appear to be healthy. We were afraid they might push their escort and run away,” he told the court. The suspects, one a 10-year-old and the other 11-year-old, were arrested on Wednesday night for allegedly sexually assaulting a five-year-old boy in their neighbourhood. Talking to the media, the suspects rejected the allegation and said that they were wrongly implicated.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2012.