Underage Accused in Criminal Cases: 880 children detained in 3 centres
A total of 880 children are still detained in three "Shishu Unnayan Kendra" (children development centres) in connection with different criminal cases, even after 489 were granted bail in last 20 working days.
Among the 489 children, who secured bail, 460 were handed over to their guardians and the process to hand over the rest to their guardians is underway, MM Mahmudullah, deputy director of (institution) of department of social service under the social welfare ministry, told The Daily Star yesterday.
He said among the 880 detained children, 550 are in Tongi Shishu Unnayan Kendra, Gazipur; 239 are in Pulerhath Shishu Unnayan Kendra in Jashore and 92 in Konabari Shishu Unnayan Kendra in Gazipur.
They have been arrested in connection with criminal cases filed on different charges including stealing, robbery, mugging, rape, torture and possessing illegal arms, he said. Mahmudullah said they have been in the custody of Shishu Unnayan Kendra for different periods of time while some have been kept in the custody for two to three years.
In some cases, it takes a long period of time to help some children secure bail, as their guardians and bail grantors cannot be found, he said, adding that police stations also often refuse to grant them bail after arrest although they have legal rights to grant bail to the accused considering the offence.
Contacted, Supreme Court Spokesman Md Saifur Rahman yesterday told The Daily Star that the SC Special Committee for Child Rights have taken necessary measures in association with the Unicef, and social welfare ministry of the country to release the children, who were granted bail, from the Shishu Unnayan Kendra and help them reach their guardians.
He said Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain is monitoring the total process of granting bail by the virtual courts operating across the country.
Justice Muhammad Imman Ali, a senior judge of the SC's Appellate Division, and chairman of the committee has been monitoring all issues regarding filing bail petitions for the detained children and their release as well as bail to the accused after holding virtual hearings of the petitions filed by them.
With these orders of bail for the children, a total of 33,155 people accused of criminal charges, have secured bail from the lower courts across the country in last 20 working days.
The lower courts have granted bail to 5,675 people in five working days in the last week, while the subordinate courts have disposed of 60,389 petitions.
The courts have disposed of total 12,762 bail petitions and granted bail to total 5,675 accused in five days last week (June 7 to June 11) in connection with the cases filed against them, according to the sources.
Most of the accused who were granted bail have already got released from jail. The virtual court functions started on May 11 after a gap of 46 days in order to deal with urgent cases.
The regular activities of courts remained closed since March 26 due to ongoing coronavirus outbreak. On May 10, the chief justice issued some directives for the courts on dealing with urgent cases through using ICT during the ongoing closure.
Comments