HC rebukes inspector for forcing minor to confess

The High Court yesterday rebuked Nayan Kumar, an inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department of police in Naogaon, for forcibly taking a confessional statement from a deceased's minor brother.

"This is a serious crime," said the HC bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Md Atoar Rahman during the virtual hearing session for the criminal revision petition filed challenging the legality of the trial proceedings of the case at the Juvenile Court in Bogura.

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On August 25, 2015, the body of an eight-year-old named Md Sohag was found in a jute field in Bogura's Katakhali.

His father, Mohidul Islam, filed a case a day later with Sariakandi Police Station, where Kumar was a sub-inspector.

Then on November 29 that year, a team of local police came to Islam's home and took away his older son, Sourav Mia, saying they needed him for questioning.

A day later, police produced Sourav before the Senior Judicial Magistrate Court in Bogura, where he gave the confessional statement of murdering his younger brother.

The police then submitted a charge sheet, where Sourav, who was 12 years of age then, was shown as the lone accused.

Due to his minor age, the court granted bail to Sourav and allowed him to stay with his parents on the condition that he appear at every hearing of the murder case as a suspect.

Then on June 11 this year, The Daily Star published a report titled "Bearing the unbearable" on the murder case and the ordeal of the deceased's family.

This prompted five Supreme Court lawyers filed a criminal revision petition as public interest litigation before the HC challenging the legality of the trial proceedings at the Juvenile Court in Bogura.

Mohammad Shishir Manir, one of the five lawyers, placed documents along with The Daily Star report before the HC to support his claim that Kumar, the investigation officer of the murder case, had recorded the confessional statement from the minor on November 30, 2015 by beating and torturing him.

There were injury marks in his body when he was admitted to a hospital the following day of recording his confessional statement, Manir said.

"He [Kumar] has done it intentionally -- it is not negligence. Is it believable that a minor killed his younger brother?" said the bench at yesterday's hearing, which was attended by Kumar in compliance with its August 11 summons order.

The HC judges also expressed dissatisfaction at Kumar as he mentioned their names in his written explanation about recording a confessional statement from the child, though he was asked to submit the explanation through an affidavit addressing the HC.

In the written explanation, Kumar offered an unconstitutional apology and sought exemption from personal appearance before the court in connection with the revision petition.

He, however, said in the written explanation that he has recorded a confessional statement following relevant provisions of the law.

Sarwar Hossain Bappi, deputy attorney general, told the HC that Kumar has made a mistake as he demonstrated negligence over the matter and therefore offered an unconstitutional apology to the court.

Md Mansur Ali, a sub-inspector of the Police Bureau of Investigation in Bogura and the present investigation officer, also appeared before the HC bench along with relevant documents of the case as per its August 11 summons order.

The HC asked the bench officer, Mohammad Khairul Alam Liton, to take a photocopy of the documents from Ali and place it before the judges.

After examining the photocopy of the documents, the HC will deliver pass necessary order, it said.

The bench was fixed on September 6 for passing further order on the issue.

The court ordered Kumar to appear before the HC bench on September 6 and exonerated Ali from personal appearance for the time being.