Kashmir teenager Faizan released

Srinagar, Apr 5, (PTI) Kashmir teenager Faizan Rafiq,
whose detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for his
alleged involvement in stone-pelting had created a furore in
Jammu and Kashmir, was Tuesday released from a jail in Kathua
district in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K).
"Faizan was released at around 1 PM (IST). The Home
Secretary had conveyed the order to jail authorities Monday
at 5.30 PM," Rafiq Ahmad Hakeem, the father of the boy, told
PTI over phone from Kathua.
Faizan arrested earlier this year for his alleged
involvement in stone-pelting during the last year's unrest.
J&K Chief Minster Omar Abdullah on Friday had ordered
release of Faizan on humanitarian grounds following criticism
from opposition parties, separatists and human rights groups.
Global human rights group Amnesty International had
launched a 'Free Faizan' campaign.
Hakeem said he was grateful to the Chief Minister, who
ordered his son's release, and all others, including Amnesty
and media groups, who campaigned for it.
"I am very thankful to the Chief Minister for the
release of my son," he added.
Faizan's detention under PSA had generated a
controversy as his family had produced birth certificate which
claimed that he was only 14-years-old and could not be
detained under the law as the minimum age prescribed in it was
16 years.
However, the Chief Minister ordered a medical test to
ascertain the age of the boy and he was found out to be at
least 17-years-old.
"That's where the problem is because under law he
isn't minor which is why it's being considered for a
humanitarian POV (point of view)," Omar had tweeted on Sunday.