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Srinagar, December 31, 2018 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, in yet another violation of Juvenile Justice Act, a young boy has been slapped with the draconian law, Public Safety Act (PSA) on the charge of organising protest demonstrations in 2016 when he was a minor.
Hailing from Rampora Qaimoh, Kulgam, Khalid Nazir Wagay has been serving detention for past more than a year on the fake charges of being involved in unlawful activities. The boy is presently detained in Kot-Bhalwal Central Jail, Jammu since October 2018. He has now been booked under PSA for a case of 2016, when he was barely 17. Khalid was born on August 28, 1999, as per his school certificates and aadhar card.
“Even though he is major now, he has been booked under a case of 2016 when he was a minor, which is illegal, for a minor cannot be detained under PSA,” stressed Advocate Mir Shafkat Hussain, who is pleading his case at Kashmir High Court.
To mention, detention of minors under PSA is a sheer violation of an amendment to the Act, which prohibits the detention of persons below the age of 18 years in police custody or interrogation centre. The amendment was made in April 2012 following strong criticism from international human rights organisations.
“Like in other cases, in this case too PSA has been misused by the police. They have been placing him in illegal detention,” said Advocate Hussain, adding that the District Magistrate Kulgam has signed his detention orders at the behest of police “without applying his own mind.”
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