PESHAWAR, June 25: A three-year boy was convicted by the court of Railway magistrate here and was fined Rs3,000.

The boy, Zarq Khan, was charged of pelting stones on a railway engine and breaking its window pane. Imdad Khan, father of the Zarq, was asked to produce the boy before the magistrate.

After producing his son, he requested the court that the boy was too small to throw a stone on a railway engine and break its window. However, the court considered it appropriate to fine the child.

As Imdad is an ordinary employee at Municipal Committee, Akora Khattak, he was not having the money at that time. He was asked to bring the fine amount and till that time the child would remain in the custody of the railway officials.

The father has also given a bond for the future acts of his son. The concerned town committee record says the boy was born in January 1999.

According to the FIR of the case registered at Railway police station, Peshawar Cantt, on June 11, some unidentified children had thrown stones on the engine while it was passing near Akora Khattak.

The police visited the residence of Imdad, situated near the railway track in Akora Khattak, and asked him to bring out his son. Imdad told Dawn that when he brought out his son Zarq the police asked him that they were looking for his elder son.

He told them that he had only one son, following which he was asked to produce Zarq before the magistrate in Peshawar, he added.

An office-bearer of the Universal Human Rights Organisation, advocate Asthagfirullah, who would file an appeal against the judgment of the magistrate, told Dawn that under section 82 of the Pakistan Penal Code nothing was an offence if committed by a child below seven years of age.

However, he said under section 130 of the Railway Act an offence committed by a child below 12 years of age would be considered a crime and his guardians would furnish a bond of his good behaviour in future.

He added that he would challenge section 130 of the Railway Act before the Federal Shariat Court as it was un-Islamic and unconstitutional as the rights of juvenile offenders had been ignored in that section.

Meanwhile, the president and general secretary of Peshawar Bar Association, Sher Afgan Khattak and Naeem Jan Malik, respectively, have expressed concern over the decision of the railway magistrate, stating that it was impossible for a child of three years to smash the window pane of a railway engine.