AGRA: Police in Etah district slapped charges of rioting and attempt to murder on a 10-year-old boy among other provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) following a dispute over the installation of a water tap.
Family members of the Class 6 student approached the Etah superintendent of police (SP), claiming the police registered the FIR without conducting any primary investigation and ignored the complaint filed by their side.
Additional superintendent of police (ASP) Rajkumar Singh said the ages of the accused were not mentioned in the complaint, and due to which the child was named in the FIR. He said the boy's name would be removed after further investigation and directed the police station to make the necessary corrections.
Legal experts pointed out that as per the recently-enacted BNS, police are required to conduct a primary probe in complaints related to non-heinous crimes before registering the FIR. In this case it seems, they said that the police lodged the FIR without conducting any fact-check.
The incident occurred in Jaithara town on Sept 17 when a fight broke out between two groups over the installation of a water tap. Both sides submitted written complaints to the police, asking for FIRs to be filed.
The boy's family alleged that the police only filed an FIR against one side, naming the child's father and seven others, including four women, in it. The 10-year-old boy was charged under BNS sections 191 (rioting), 352 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 333 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 115(2) (voluntary causing hurt), 76 (physical assault or the use of criminal force against a woman), 351(3) (criminal intimidation) and 109 (attempt to murder).