News

Actions

Video shows infant being booked in Pakistan, child faced attempted murder charge

Posted at 3:35 PM, Apr 05, 2014
and last updated 2014-04-05 17:39:34-04

The video above is courtesy GEO TV via CNN. (Audio for the video was not available.)

By Sophia Saifi and Aliza Kassim

CNN

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A 9-month-old Pakistani boy bawled as he was fingerprinted and booked in Lahore on an attempted murder charge after his family members allegedly threw bricks at police trying to collect an unpaid bill.

The ordeal started February 1 when several police officers and a bailiff went to a home hoping to get payment for a gas bill, said Atif Zulfikar Butt, a senior police official in Lahore.

A scuffle ensued, during which the infant's father, one of his teenage sons and others in the residence severely injured some of the officials by tossing bricks their way, according to Butt.

That led authorities to seek out those in the house. An official document aired by CNN affiliate GEO News shows charges of stoning and attempted murder.

How and why the baby was implicated was unclear, though the Lahore police official acknowledged that the child appeared in court Wednesday and was booked as his grandfather held him.

"The police filed a wrong, false arrest charge sheet and brought this innocent 9-month-old into this court room for an appearance," the family's lawyer, Irfan Tarar, said.

Following media coverage of the incident, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif directed police to immediately suspend a Pakistani official for registering the case against the baby boy, according to police.

CNN's attempts to contact the family members were not successful.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2014 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved