Nine month old baby charged with attempted murder

This photograph taken on April 3, 2014 shows a Pakistani lawyer taking the thumb impression from nine-month-old toddler Mohammad Musa on a bail bond in Lahore. STR/AFP/Getty Images

Journalists are often challenged to find just the right word for their news stories. Pity the poor reporter for Reuters; he could only come up with “dysfunctional” to describe a justice system in which a 9-month-old baby can be charged with murder.

According a police inspector, a mob protesting gas cuts and price increases in Pakistan stoned police and gas company workers trying to collect overdue bills. Mohammad Musa Khan, 9 months, was in on it along with the rest of his family, according to the Reuters report today.

At his first appearance in court last week, Musa cried while his fingerprints were taken by a court official. Later, the baby sucked on a bottle of milk and tried to grab journalists’ microphones as his grandfather spoke to the media.

“He does not even know how to pick up his milk bottle properly, how can he stone the police?” Yasin asked journalists at the court last Thursday.

The child is now on the lam, according to family members.