Indian police charge three-year-old for rioting, shooting

PATNA: Police in Patna have charged a three-year-old boy for allegedly leading a group of rioters and firing at security personnel, the toddler's uncle said  on Thursday.   

The incident dates back to a clash in the eastern state of Bihar between villagers and police in January, when officers were pelted with stones and shot at,  said Dhruv Kumar Jha .   

Shortly afterwards, the young Raj Kumar was "charged with throwing stones at the police and firing at them," he said. The family ignored three summons, prompting uniformed police to turn up at their house and tell the dumbfounded parents to produce the child before the authorities.   

But hope is not lost, with the family insisting the boy has a rock-solid alibi. "He was at his grandmother's house on the day of the clash. So the question of him being there does not arise," Jha asserted.   

Police involved in the case said they were sure they had their boy -- but have promised to take a second look given the possibility of an administrative error in India's notoriously cumbersome bureaucracy. "The riots were captured on a security camera and the complaint has the names of people whose faces have been identified. But if there is any doubt, we are willing to look into it," a police official said.   

Instances of Bihar police charging children for crimes are not uncommon. Last August, a court in the state dropped charges against a six-year-old boy accused of molesting and assaulting a woman in her thirties.