Juvenile locked up with hardcore criminals for six months

Moved by mother’s sustained efforts, court directs police to confirm his age; boy moved to remand home after criminal error of cops comes to light

Age is not just a number. And a 17-year-old juvenile boy realised this when he was forced to spend about six months in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison. Reason: his remand application processed by the city police had recorded his age as 19. However, his mother’s grit to give her son justice resulted in the boy being sent to a remand home.

On August 11, 2020, around 2,000 people took to the streets in DJ Halli and KG Halli over an inflammatory Facebook post. The mob vandalized property and set fire to the DJ Halli police station.

Shabbir was one of the 120 people who was arrested.

Khursheed’s (Shabbir mother) life has been hell since that night. “My son was arrested after he was identified in the CCTV footage. He had just stepped out of the house to see what was going on. My son works as a mechanic and supports me financially. I work as a domestic help and since that day, I am unable to go to work because I have been running behind lawyers to get him out of the central prison. He was not involved in the riots. He is a victim of circumstance,” says Khursheed.

She says she can’t forget the early hours of August 12, 2020, 4 am to be precise, when policemen dressed in civil clothes barged into their house. “Without any identification and without giving ius any reasons, they picked him up,” she says.

The next day, she approached the DJ Halli police station and learnt that her son was arrested in the DJ Halli rioting case. She also learnt that her son was produced before the XIth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Mayo Hall and was remanded to judicial custody at Parappana Agrahara Central Jail.

In September, Shabbir called his mother from the central prison and informed her that he was lodged there as accused no 27 and his undertrial prisoner number was 5191/2020. She again approached the DJ Halli police to reiterate that her minor son could not be imprisoned with convicts and criminals. It would adversely affect his mental and physical health, she pleaded. But all her efforts were in vain.

It was then that she was referred to advocate Basawa Prasad Kunale who helped her file a habeas corpus writ petition with the High Court. The court ordered an inquiry into Shabbir’s age with the prison authorities and it was found that there was indeed an error in recording his age. The court then ordered the juvenile to be shifted from the central prison to the state-run Boys’ Observation Home.

“When the NIA officials started visiting my house frequently and questioning me multiple times, I got scared and I almost gave up on my struggle to get my son out of the jail,” says Khursheed. The fact that he has been moved to an observation home of Juvenile Justice Board and is awaiting bail is some consolation for Khursheed and Shabbir. Also, that she can meet her son. When she hears his cries of despair, she dies a little. “He is scared. His experience in the prison with hard core criminals has shaken him. He worries if he will ever be released,” she says, echoing his worries.

Presently, the JJB is waiting for preliminary assessment reports to decide whether or not to grant brail, said Kunale.