Juvenile delinquent: ‘My mother is proud of me’

The 13-year-old killed a man on court premises.

GUJRANWALA:

“My mother kissed my forehead and gave me her blessings. I accomplished what my elders could not,” said 13-year-old boy, who was arrested last week from a court for a shooting deed.

The boy is currently being questioned.

The boy, a resident of Kangniwala, had shot a hand-cuffed Hafiz Ghias when he was being escorted to the court for possession of an illegal weapon.  The deceased was also accused of shooting the boy’s father.

During preliminary investigation, the boy told the investigation officer that his elder brother, too, earlier had tried to kill Ghias.

He said seeing their father’s misery, they had promised themselves that they would avenge the injury.

“Watching him suffer was unbearable. Ghias had tied down all of us at our house and shot my father in the feet several times.

My father cannot walk ...He may never walk.”



The boy said he did not regret his action and that his mother’s blessings were with him.

Talking to The Express Tribune at the lock-up, the boy said he was aware that he could not be punished.

“If there were punishments for crimes, Ghias would have been punished.”

The investigation officer told The Express Tribune that the police had traced a dispute between Ghias and the boy’s father.

He said in such cases, young children were brainwashed, forcing them to take such actions because they were unaware of the consequences.

He said the boy had provided no information on the Pashtun man he said he had got the pistol from.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2013.