Police claims 9-year-old child to be 22, accuses him of violence

An overly enthusiastic police officer in Brahmanbaria has named nine-year-old child Mohammad Ibrahim as an accused in a case filed over domestic violence.

However, the police officer submitted an investigation report to the court showing the child's age as 22. Along with his mother, father and brother, Ibrahim has been accused of beating up his aunt.

On February 22, Ibrahim's father Abdus Sattar lodged a case against Helal Chowdhury, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Sarail police station, with the Senior Judicial Magistrate court of the Brahmanbaria.

The court has ordered Detective branch (DB) of the police to investigate the case.

Ibrahim's family alleged that the policeman submitted the probe report without actually conducting an investigation and included the name of the child and his family members by the persuasion of the complainants. 

In October last year, one Shahen Begum had lodged a complaint against Ibrahim and his family members. Shahena is the wife of Ibrahim's paternal uncle.

Shahena included in the complaint that she had been forced to leave her home due to death threats.

However, at the time of registering the complaint, two of the accused – Abdus Sattar and his son Mohammad Jabed – were already behind bars for another case filed by Shahena a month earlier. But ASI Helal, who was tasked with investigating the matter, did not take this into account.

According to the report submitted to the court by Helal, he had conducted an "extensive investigation" and found substantial proof of the allegation against Ibrahim and 10 others named in the complaint.

Ibrahim's mother Nurjahan said Shahena had gotten them into trouble with false allegations.

"We are helpless in face of pressure from the police."

Asked about the complaint, Shahena said that on the day of the incident, her daughter Sayma had gotten into an argument with Ibrahim's sister Arjina. When the altercation escalated, they were allegedly attacked by Ibrahim's family.

Shahena said she suffered physical injuries. But a medical report from upazila health complex states that there were no signs of injuries found on her body.

ASI Helal could not be reached over the phone for a comment.

DB Officer in Charge Aminur Rashid said the case came to their hands on Sunday and they would begin conducting the investigation.

Brahmanbaria Assistant Superintendent of Police (Sarail circle) Masud Rana said, "The incident happened before I joined. As I was not aware of the incident before, I can only comment about the matter after I go to the site and investigate it."