The case of this juvenile boy charged with attempted manslaughter should grace the page of not only The Guinness Book of World Records but it should also be deposited in the annals of law journal. In my lifetime, never have I heard that a child so young charged with such grievous crime. A person has to go to a police station to lodge any complaint -- criminal or civil.

As per news story, the complainant sued not only the adult members of the family of the juvenile but also the three-year-old boy. The complaint is a serious one: The members of family tried or conspired to kill the complainant. The desk officer in the police station should have used his God-given brain to rationalise that a three-year old could hardly commit a crime as grievous as murdering an adult. Also, at such tender age, a boy hardly could conspire to kill any person. This falls into the category of absurdity. But our police are so inept that they would record a complaint without even thinking whether the case falls into the domain of the absurd.

The Daily Star printed the photo of the puzzled three-year-old whose petrified face tells the sordid drama of lawsuit going haywire. However, law is law. The boy's father Mr. Anwar Ali brought the frightened boy to the court for bail petition. The judge was kind enough to grant a bail to boy Iman Ali for Taka 5,000. Any intelligent judge would have thrown the case in the dustbin elsewhere in the world. But mind you, we are dealing with Bangladesh. Nonetheless, a three-year-old boy gets to come to the court for bail hearing! Isn't it amazing?

Sadly, Bangladesh has also become a very litigious society. Only to grab 3-katha land in the outskirt of Dhaka, the complainant and his son-in-law had lodged 10 criminal cases against the family members of Iman Ali, the three-year-old boy. Many desperate people would do anything to grab other's land. Perhaps the high population density coupled with paucity of land near urban metropolis is driving our people to insanity. In my judgment, only an insane person can lodge complaint against a three-year old boy. If my hunch is correct, the laws are based on sound judgment. The police officer recording the complaint and the judiciary in Bangladesh should have thrown out this frivolous case on the ground of absurdity. Not only that, the complainant should be tried for harassing the family of the little boy. The laws are there for use and not for abuse.

The Golden Fleece award in this case should squarely go to the police officer who initially recorded the complaint! He should have better known that a boy who is merely three years of age could hardly hold a weapon; never mind the act.

Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah is a researcher.