Morung Express News Dimapur | October 5 In a step-by-step violation of juvenile justice laws, a 16 years old child was allowed to fall off a two storey building in Wokha town, shattering his limbs. The child was brought to the Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK) on Tuesday night where his injuries were reported due to ‘fallen from height.’ Sources from NHAK informed that his right leg was fractured and an external fixation was conducted on Wednesday while a POP was also applied on the left hand. The incident On October 3, a uniformed personnel of the Wokha police entered a school in town and picked up the 16 year old child in conflict with law (The term ‘children in conflict with the law’ refers to any person below the age of 18 who has come in contact with the justice system as a result of committing a crime or being suspected of committing a crime). “One police officer in uniform came at around 10:00 am and said that they need to interrogate the boy as he was a suspect in a case,” confirmed the principal of the school in which the child studied. “Since they are law enforcing officers, I let them take him away in good faith,” said the principal. Accused by an “influential family” in Wokha town of having committed theft, sources (on the condition of anonymity) close to the child informed The Morung Express that the police intimated the child’s guardians of the case well after he was taken into police custody. While he was released on the same day, with a bond signed by his mother, the child was later picked up by youth of the PWD colony in Wokha town alongside an engineer in the rank of SDO in the Nagaland State Department of Irrigation and Flood control, the person who first accused the child of theft. Sources witness to the incident told The Morung Express that “A group of people took him to the terrace of a two storey building and assaulted him with huge sticks.” When The Morung Express spoke to the child after his operation at NHAK, he confirmed that people from the colony beat him, compelling him off the building. He shattered his bones in the process; all the while he was in his school uniform. He was first taken to the Wokha district hospital where they were unable to treat him due to the complication of the case, referring him instead to the NHAK. Police version According to the SP of Wokha, T Chumrenthung Lotha, the child was picked up by the police from school for interrogation but found innocent and released. He was, however, “taken into custody by the youth body of PWD colony reportedly for making certain clarification.” The SP Wokha also admitted that the engineer who had leveled the initial charges against the child was present in the scene when the child fell off the building. Wokha Police Station recieved three separate FIRs in connection to the case, informed the SP. While the engineer is now in police custody, the SP admitted that the action of the police picking up a minor was in contravention of juvenile law. “I have asked the SDPO to conduct an inquiry into this and submit a report by October 6.” Juvenile Justice “If they had followed procedure, this would not have happened,” said a child rights activist in Nagaland. Since the police went in uniform to the school, whether the child committed wrong or not, “he will be forced to live a socially persecuted life.” Indian law provides for four statutory bodies in the juvenile justice system from the moment a child comes in conflict with law—the special juvenile police unit, the juvenile justice board, the district child protection officers (DCPO) and the child welfare committee (CWC). None of them were called in to monitor this case. Acknowledging the lapse, the DCPO Wokha confirmed that the CWC Wokha heard about the case on the night of October 4, long after the child had been assaulted. “The police cannot involve in a juvenile’s case on their own. Colony people definitely cannot intervene. These four statutory bodies should be involved in any case with any child to make sure no child is harmed. The community should also be aware of them,” maintained the activist.
