PESHAWAR, Nov 11: The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) has underlined the need for implementing the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 in its true spirit to save children from the stress, psychological, mental and physical ailments and even death due to prolonged stay behind the bars and lack of adequate health and other facilities.

The demand to this effect was made by Sparc’s deputy national coordinator Arshad Mahmood and Hangu Child Rights Committee district coordinator Pir Amir Faisal, at a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday.

They maintained that a judicial inquiry should be carried out to assess the causes of death of a juvenile inmate Gul Marjan son of Kameen Wazir in Hangu judicial lockup and biopsy be carried out immediately to ascertain the real cause of death.

Under section 10 (7) of the JJSO, except in cases where the delay in trial has been caused by the accused, the detained child should be released on bail if being accused of any offence punishable for imprisonment for life, and had been detained for a continuous period beyond six months and whose trial has not concluded, they added.

However, they pointed out, Gul Marjan, 13, spent one year and two months in prison, in violation of the JJSO, waiting for his trial to be concluded that cost him his life and the trial could not be concluded.

Pir Amir Faisal said an FIR, No. 886, dated Dec 30, 2001, was registered against Gul Marjan, his father and brothers at the Hangu police station.

The complainant, he said, had alleged that the family of Gul Marjan had axed and beaten him up. The complainant charged Gul Marjan by name for axing and injuring him.

Later, Gul Marjan handed him over to the police and appealed for bail in courts. However, twice the courts rejected it.

When his condition started worsening in jail he was shifted to Hangu civil hospital, but despite all available treatment and facilities he could not survive.

The child rights activists said that in the postmortem report hepato renal shutdown has been mentioned as the cause of death.— PPI