Juvenile delinquency in India
This is a collection of newspaper articles selected for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
2004-2013: Juvenile crime
Apr 08 2015
Recently, the Supreme Court requested Parliament to rethink on the differentiation in quantum of punishment between juveniles and adult offenders in case of serious crimes. The National Crime Records Bureau's data shows that in the past decade, the rate of juvenile offences has steadily increased. In 2004, the rate for juvenile crime was 1.77 incidents per lakh of population. It had risen to 2.58 by 2013. However, juvenile incidents as a percentage of total cognizable offences cognizable offences have not increased by much because the overall rate of increase in crime too is much faster than population growth.
2012: Juvenile delinquency in India
100 juveniles booked for murder, 63 held for rape
Dwaipayan Ghosh TNN 2013/06/14
New Delhi: The number of juvenile offenders in the city registered a jump in 2012 with a hundred apprehended for murder and 63 for rape, a National Crime Records Bureau report has stated. Though the capital fared better than states like Bihar and Maharashtra, psychologists say it’s time for some on-ground action .
Also, 74 minors were detained for attempt to murder and six for culpable homicide. Eighteen were held for kidnapping and abduction, 10 of whom had targeted girls, while 13 were held for dacoity.
Figures from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra show that the juvenile crime graph has seen a big spike. While 183 juveniles were held in Maharashtra in 2012 for murder, in MP the figure was 197.
That these youngsters can be as brutal as adults was seen recently when a Class XII student was murdered by his four minor friends in Greater Noida, with police finding his body in Aligarh, 27 km away.
According to psychologist Dileep Majumder, this data calls for a rethink on the legal definition of adolescence. “The report of the Justice Verma Committee has not really dwelt on the adolescence debate. The committee should also have had psychologists throwing light on the mental health of juveniles apprehended for rape which would add perspective to the debate on whether or not the age of trial should be lowered from 18 years to 16 years,” Majumder said. With access to internet, psychiatrists feel that the “aspiration levels of adolescents and adults are slowly becoming the same”.
2013: rape and murder by juveniles
Grave crisis:158% rise in rapes by juveniles
Raj.Shekhar@timesgroup.com New Delhi:
The Times of India Jul 15 2014
Cops Say Hardened Delinquents Mock Law
The release of some disturbing figures by NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau). The involvement of juveniles in cases of rape in the capital shot up by 158% in 2013 (163 cases) as against 2012 (63). And there was a 30% increase in overall crimes committed by juveniles during the same period.
One hundred and sixty three juveniles were apprehended on rape charges and 76 in murder cases last year.
That the law is not proving to be a deterrent is quite evident. The involvement of juveniles in the trademark crime of burglary and snatching also went up. There were 928 cases in 2013 as against 523 the year before. Going by these statistics, the concern expressed by the minister is quite valid. In fact, since the Nirbhaya case, Delhi Police has been demanding that the juvenile age limit be brought down to 16.
“Recently , three boys--aged nine, 12 and 14 --took a seven-year-old girl to a park on the pretext of plucking mangoes and took turns to rape and sodomize her in west Delhi's Paschim Vihar. Also, a juvenile servant masterminded arobbery and murder of a war hero in Patel Nagar in early June. However, the punishment for them will be negligible. Most of the juveniles we catch are aware that being underage grants them a special status,” said a senior cop.
Police say they are helpless in tackling crimes committed by minors, especially in the borderline age-group. Police officers recall the case of Sonu, who burgled and set houses on fire. He would openly threaten them, saying he would be out in a month as he was 16 and teach the cops a lesson. The special task force of south district had nabbed a criminal who roamed around with a fake age certificate and claimed to be a minor whenever he was caught.
In the past three years, juveniles have been found involved in rapes, gruesome murders of elderly and robberies. A gang of five minors who had dramatically escaped from a city juvenile home last year on October 5 amid rioting and arson had murdered a jeweller's wife in Mayur Vihar a month later and fled with 50kg of silver jewellery and Rs 10 lakh in cash from the house. A juvenile who was just 10 days short of being a major was among them.
About a dozen break-outs from correctional homes were reported in the past two years.
However, police stood by as mute spectators while juveniles vandalized the homes as they weren't allowed to go in. Times View This newspaper has consistently argued for making the definition of who is a juvenile flexible based on the nature of the crime. This is by no means a novel idea. Many countries follow such a principle of not making the distinction between adults and juveniles absolute. This is necessary because at stake here are not just the human rights of the accused but also the rights of those whom they have victimized. In many parts of the world, a balance is achieved by calibrating the age below which a person is considered juvenile to the nature of the crime. For heinous crimes like murder or rape, the age limits are lower. Given how often juveniles in India are involved in such violent crimes, we need a similar approach to the law.
Supreme Court frowns on leniency
The Times of India Apr 07 2015
SC: Get tough on juveniles in heinous crimes
The Supreme Court requested Parliament for a “rethink“ to differentiate between juveniles involved in innocuous and serious crimes, thereby mounting pressure on the Centre for a relook at the law providing mild punishment to juveniles even when they are involved in heinous offences, reports Dhananjay Mahapatra. “A time has come to think of an effective law to deal with the situation,“ a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant said. The court was reacting to a case in which a boy aged 17 years and 8 months, who was part of a mob that killed nine people, was seeking advantage of friendly trial and lenient punishment under the Juvenile Justice Act. Mounting pressure on the Centre for a relook at the law providing mild punishment to juveniles even when they are involved in heinous offences, the Supreme Court on Monday requested Parliament for a “rethink“ to differentiate between juveniles involved in innocuous and serious crimes.
As the NDA government shared the court's concern, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant said, “It is apt to note here that there can be a situation where commission of an offence may be total ly innocuous or emerging from a circumstance where a young boy is not aware of the consequences but in cases of rape, dacoity , murder, which are heinous crimes, it is extremely difficult to conceive that the juvenile was not aware of the consequences.“
“A time has come to think of an effective law to deal with the situation“ arising from involvement of juveniles in heinous offences, the bench said. Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi had said in an earlier hearing, “The Centre understands the nation's concern and it is engaging the attention of the competent authority .“ The court's concern was expressed in a case where a boy aged 17 years and 8 months, who was part of a mob that attacked a gathering and killed nine people, was seeking advantage of friendly trial and lenient pun ishment prescribed under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000.
The bench said,“Care should be taken to the extent that the nature of the offence has some nexus with the age in question.“
Though the bench left it to the trial court to determine the correct age of the accused and find out whether he was a juvenile at the time of commission of the crime, it said, “The issue that emerges is whether in such a situation (where the accused was part of an illegal congregation that killed nine persons), can it be conceived by any stretch of imagination that the petitioner was not aware of the consequences? Or, for that matter, was it a crime committed, if proven, with a mind that was not mature enough?“ The bench sought answers from the Centre by the first week of May .
Cabinet likely to take up bill
A bill that will allow minors between the ages of 16 and 18 years accused of heinous crimes to be treated as adults is likely to come up before the Union Cabinet on Tuesday. The juvenile justice amendment bill has retained the controversial amendments overruling a parliamentary panel's objections that the provision was discriminatory and against the UN convention of Rights of Child and Indian Constitution. The bill has been in the works for over six months. One of the amendments is that a minor above 16 years of age could be treated as an adult if he or she has committed a heinous crime like rape, murder, acid attack. The decision will be taken by the Juvenile Justice Board.
Rape by juveniles
2002-2012
143% spurt in rape by juveniles in past decade, record shows
Deeptiman Tiwary, TNN | Aug 24, 2013
The Times of India Aug 24, 2013
Government data shows crimes by juveniles — specially rape and abduction of women — has seen an exponential rise in the past decade. While rape by juveniles has recorded a 143% spurt, abduction of women has jumped by 380% even though overall rise in juvenile crimes recorded under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been only 50% against figures for 2002. Even theft (64.5%) and murder (86.4%) have recorded smaller jumps compared to rape and abduction by juveniles.
It has also been observed that the share of teens — aged between 16 and 18 — in juvenile crimes has steadily increased. From 48.7% in 2002, it has gone up to 66.5% in 2012. In 2011, it stood at 63.9%.
Maharashtra, in particular, has had a poor show as far as controlling juvenile crimes are concerned. With 4,570 cases of juvenile crimes, Maharashtra was second only to Madhya Pradesh (5,446) and together with states like Assam (2,345), Chhattisgarh (2,180), Rajasthan (1,880) and Andhra Pradesh (1,593) accounted for 64.5% of all juvenile crimes. It also ended up with maximum juvenile arrests — at 4,221 — in the 16-18 age group.
In cases of rape by juveniles too, Maharashtra was among top five states in 2012 with 89 cases, next only to Madhya Pradesh (249), UP (110) and Rajasthan (102). Delhi — notorious for its attitude towards women and infamous for the December 16, 2012 gang rape involving a minor accused — recorded 57 rapes by juveniles last year.
Given that the alleged accused in the Mumbai gang rape have turned out to be petty thieves, Maharashtra has more reasons to worry as it accounts for maximum thefts by juveniles accounting for 19.8% of all juvenile thefts in the country.
A Mumbai Police officer explained, "Controlling juvenile crimes is a challenge as it is not merely linked to law and order but also the socio-economic dynamics of the society. Most juvenile criminals come from extremely poor backgrounds, start with stealing and then slowly start indulging in bigger crimes, including robbery, murder and rape. So many of them go back to their old ways even after getting caught and spending time in juvenile homes. It's not just the fear of the law that will stop this."
Data from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) backs the analysis. More than 78% of juvenile criminals came from families earning less than Rs 50,000 a year.
Juvenile rapists: 2010-2012
Juvenile rapists on the rise across the country
Jayaraj Sivan, TNN | Jun 19, 2013
CHENNAI: Even as a debate rages over whether or not criminal offenders in the 16-18 age group should be treated as juvenile delinquents, instances of juveniles coming into conflict with the law, especially in cases of heinous crimes such as rape, are on the rise.
Between 2010 and 2012, there was a 233% increase in juveniles getting apprehended on rape charges in Tamil Nadu. While Odisha saw the maximum increase in percentage terms (411%), in actual numbers Madhya Pradesh (284) still accounted for maximum juvenile rapists in the country, as per the latest statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau for 2012.
Uttar Pradesh reported the second highest number of juvenile rapists with 123 arrests. There were 109 arrests in Rajasthan, 106 in Maharashtra, 89 in West Bengal, 87 in Odisha and 81 in Andhra Pradesh. New Delhi, which is gaining notoriety as the rape capital of India, reported 63 arrests of juveniles on rape charges. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, 30 juveniles each were arrested on rape charges and 13 were apprehended in neighbouring Karnataka.
While a section of society advocates lowering the age of juvenile delinquents and meting out deterrent punishment to tackle such crimes, psychologists and child rights activists differ.
Attacks on women rise 132%: 2013
Govt: Attacks by juveniles on women rose 132% in 2012-13 New Delhi TIMES NEWS NETWORKThe Times of India Nov 28 2014
Assault on women by juveniles with juveniles with the intent to outrage their modesty rose by 132% in 2013 compared to the previous year, minister for women and child develop ment Maneka Gandhi told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday .
Citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the minister said the percentage of crimes committed by children in the 16-18 years age group had also increased in relation to the total crimes committed by children across all ages.This percentage rose from 48.7% in 2002 to 66.3% in 2013.
In response to another question, Maneka said her ministry had conceptualized a scheme to establish a `One Stop Centre' to assist and support women affected by violence at 660 locations covering all districts in the country in a phased manner. The centres aim to facilitate medical aid and police assistance, provide legal counselling management, psycho-social counselling and temporary shelter, if required, she added.
TN: 95% delinquents live with parents
Most TN juvenile offenders live with parents, only 5% homeless
Sindhu Kannan,TNN | Nov 10, 2014 The Times of India
CHENNAI: If you thought children without family guidance are more likely to take to crime, these statistics will disabuse you of the notion.
A majority of the 2,949 juveniles detained for being in conflict with law in the state in 2013 lived with their parents or guardians at the time they committed their offences, show statistics from the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB), Tamil Nadu (TN). The data shows that only 5% of juvenile offenders were homeless, contrary to the widespread perception that most children who run afoul of the rules do not have parents or older relatives to supervise them.
The SCRB statistics reflect the findings of a study, 'Juvenile Delinquency and Family Structure', by students of Elon University, North Carolina, which international journals have published. The study found that the less communication there is within a family and the less stable the structure of a family is, the more likely a child is to engage in delinquent activities. It said family can play both negative and positive roles in the development of children and that juvenile delinquents are often the product of fragmented families.
The assumption that education is likely to deter children from committing offences may also be misplaced. Of the juveniles detained in Tamil Nadu, 1,250 went to primary school or higher. Only 327 did not have any schooling.
Though half of the state's juvenile offenders were from poor families, worryingly, middle-class families accounted for 20% of the children who committed offences.
Psychologists say the functioning of a family, impact of disruption in a family, and being raised by a single parent are crucial to whether or not a child is likely to display delinquent behaviour.
"Children who are rejected by their parents, those who grow up in families with considerable conflict and those who are inadequately supervised are at the greatest risk of becoming juveniles in conflict with the law," counsellor Preethi Manoharan said.
"Monitoring becomes increasingly important as children enter adolescence and spend less time under the direct supervision of their parents and more time with their peers," she said. "Lack of monitoring is reflected in the parent not knowing where the child is at any given time, whom the child is with, what the child is doing or when the child will be home."
Most of the state's juvenile offenders were guilty of theft, with the second largest number being involved in burglary. Fewer juveniles faced charges of murder or attempted murder. No juveniles were involved in cases of criminal breach of trust or trading in counterfeit currency.
Tamil Nadu recorded a marginal decrease in offences by juveniles this year at 2,949, compared to 3,000 in 2012.
Birth proof
HC: Birth proof must for juveniles
Abhinav Garg The Times of India Feb 02 2015 New Delhi
Age Probes Can Be Treated As Proof In a direction that will benefit thousands of children incarcerated in jails, the Delhi high court has linked birth registration system with the juvenile justice administration to ensure that they get permanent birth certificates. The order, once implemented, can ensure that age inquiries conducted by juvenile justice boards and child welfare committees are treated as a birth record. Once such a record is available it will be difficult for police to put children in jails meant for adults even as repeat juvenile offenders won't be able to take advantage of the loophole in the JJ Act that prescribes a fresh age inquiry every time an accused claims to be a minor. A division bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw recently held that age inquiry under Section 49 of the JJ Act can be treated as a magisterial inquiry required under Section 13 of Birth and Death Registration Act for the delayed registration of children without any certificate. HC came out with the order after taking into account submissions of Bharti Ali of HAQ: Centre for Child Rights and other stakeholders. Ali highlighted that a link between the JJ system and birth registration system can ensure that every child has a birth certificate. Later, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) held consultations and filed its report backing the proposal. The commission stressed the need to put in place proper infrastructure and tweaking of rules so that a database is maintained for age inquiries. The Delhi Legal Services Authority too said that once the police has access to age declarations in their data base they can verify if an arrested person is an adult or a juvenile, removing the current large scale reliance on bone ossification medical tests which in any case has inbuilt ambiguity of two years. HC disposed of the matter it took up suo moto in 2011 when it realized that thousands of children had been put in jails meant for adults. It converted a letter by advocate Anant Asthana into a PIL. In his letter Asthana cited information received under RTI showing that in central jail No.7, 114 persons were shifted out to observation homes between October, 2010 to August, 2011 after they were found to be juveniles. Asthana and the HAQ foundation alleged that police has failed to find out if the accused is a juvenile or adult at the time of arrest. In many cases, despite the family of the accused producing the birth certificate to show the young age of the arrested person, police ignored the evidence and acted only after age inquiry was conducted and it was ultimately found that the accused person is a juvenile.
Statistics of juvenile delinquency: 2001-11
|
Year |
Arms Act |
Narcotic Drugs and psycho Substances Act |
Gambling Act |
Excise Act |
Prohibition Act |
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act |
Indian Railways Act |
Other Crimes |
Explosive and Explosive Substances Act |
Total |
|
2001 |
154 |
52 |
763 |
613 |
1007 |
125 |
26 |
5589 |
3 |
8332 |
|
2002 |
162 |
56 |
675 |
526 |
930 |
49 |
81 |
6492 |
10 |
8981 |
|
2003 |
232 |
62 |
863 |
508 |
1117 |
48 |
110 |
4918 |
9 |
7867 |
|
2004 |
201 |
54 |
989 |
480 |
566 |
47 |
28 |
3383 |
8 |
5756 |
|
2005 |
192 |
76 |
1061 |
472 |
830 |
50 |
0 |
3972 |
9 |
6662 |
|
2006 |
280 |
65 |
1116 |
556 |
632 |
79 |
11 |
2504 |
3 |
5246 |
|
2007 |
322 |
80 |
1013 |
556 |
510 |
60 |
0 |
2207 |
8 |
4756 |
|
2008 |
265 |
70 |
779 |
374 |
408 |
33 |
6 |
1603 |
7 |
3545 |
|
2009 |
223 |
61 |
1149 |
465 |
592 |
18 |
2 |
1795 |
16 |
4321 |
|
2010 |
154 |
82 |
326 |
249 |
314 |
10 |
2 |
1408 |
13 |
2558 |
|
2011 |
159 |
78 |
424 |
198 |
313 |
15 |
2 |
1637 |
11 |
2837 |
Source of statistics
See alsoJuveniles, benefits and privileges of Juvenile delinquency in India Rapes in India |
