A STUDY ON JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN INDIA
The authors of this blog are Prenita Ranjan and Piyush Karan Singh, BA LLB(H) students of Amity Law School,
Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh
INTRODUCTION
The smoothness of socialization is
ensured by social relations, but these days the lifestyle has become so complex
that such relationships are collapsing, the increase in maturity gap and
arguably the limited opportunity of becoming an independent person. Nowadays, youth are subject to
risk and are being presented with new opportunities, some of which are
beneficial and some are potentially harmful, quite often these harmful
opportunities are taken by young people who end up committing crimes such as drug
addiction and some may even become violent. Concept of juvenile delinquency
deals with the negative behavior of children and teenagers that may result in
crimes or illegal actions.
This article deals with the concept
of juvenile delinquency and the laws that we have for the same, the article
also discusses the possible reason and prevention of juvenile delinquency.
Aman, a 15-year-old adolescent was sent to an
observation center and was kept in special housing for minors for 3 years. He
was sent there for murdering his best friend while they were drunk and got into
a fight. A special housing center where they provided him with basic
requirements of food, clothing, and shelter, but no emotional support or a
condition that will make him not to return back to crime. It is said, children
are victims of their circumstances, for Aman, his father was an abusive
alcoholic and poverty was a big reason.
There are many stories such as these
and many children who are sent to observation and special care centers for
committing different crimes and each one of them holds their own story and
reason to be there. A person below the age of 18 years is considered a
juvenile. According to [1] National Crime Bureau 2003 report, 328
juveniles were charged with committing murder and the number increased to 845
in 2013. Crimes which were committed by juveniles of age 16-18 years in 2003
was rated 54% which increased to 66% in 2013 and is still increasing. [2]Juvenile
delinquency refers to a minor committing crime which has become a very serious
issue in India due to the persistent increase in children’s involvement in
crimes.
REASONS
FOR JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
It is very important for
us to understand the reason behind juvenile delinquency and what causes these children to
end up committing crimes, we can effectively come out with solutions to control
such acts from occurring. Some of the causes of juvenile delinquency can be as
follows:
⮚
POVERTY:
Poverty is something
that drives a person to do acts that he would have never in normal
circumstances, in order to fulfill the basic needs of
shelter, food, and clothing many times children
end up stealing, committing acts of theft just
to fulfill their hunger. Poverty can drive a child to do acts of crime, just to
gain some money or to fill their stomachs.
⮚
FAMILY CONFLICTS/ABUSE:
The way the children are
treated and taken care of in their homes has a great impact on how they turn
out to be. The abuse they face at homes makes them fearless and turns them to
do acts that can have serious consequences and makes their decision making
skill very weak.
⮚
LACK OF ATTENTION/
SUPERVISION:
Parents should be aware
of the people their child is spending his/her time with, parents should have
the knowledge about where their child is and what problems and what all he is
going through in his daily life.
⮚
SOCIAL PRESSURE TOWARDS
PERFORMANCE:
Many children take these
crimes as a way of fun and as an act, they should be proud of.
⮚
TOO MUCH ACCESS TO MONEY:
Many
parents feel that it is fine to provide their children with access to infinite
money and forget to teach them the proper use of it. Children often end up
using this money for illegal drug use and they feel that their parent’s money
is a closet for them to escape anything wrong they do.
JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF
CHILDREN) ACT, 2015
The Juvenile Justice Act of 2015
came into force on 15 January 2016. The [3]new act
categorizes children between the age of 16-18 years as a category where they can
be tried as adults if they have committed a heinous offense, although it’s not
mandatory but can be done in exceptional cases. The main purpose of this act is
to provide help for delinquents, and other children who are in difficult
circumstances.
This amendment to the juvenile
justice act 2000 was proposed by the [4]Ministry of
Women and Child Development in the year 2014 keeping in mind the increase in a
number of offenses that were taking place by a minor, the amendment was also a the backdrop of the [5]Delhi
gang rape in 2012 as among the many offenders in the case, one of the offender
was a minor of 17 years. The [6]JS
Verma Committee was constituted in order to recommend amendments to the
Juvenile Justice Act and this committee recommendation stated that it was not
inclined to reduce the age of juvenile from 18 years to 16 years, but instead,
for heinous offenses a special category of 16-18 years was created and under
some special circumstances they could be tried as adults. Three circumstances
or criteria were kept for trying these minors as adults in special cases in
front of the juvenile justice board.
JUVENILE JUSTICE BOARD
Juvenile boards are formed for
juveniles who have committed crimes, as according to the criminal code children
are not allowed to be taken into regular courts, the purpose is to provide
rehabilitation and not punishment.
The board has been given various functions
under this section of the act, such as
●
It is the duty of the board to make sure that
the rights of the children are protected.
●
The board has to make sure that the parents or
the legal guardian of the child is properly informed about the reason for the
trial and the crime that has been committed by the child
●
The board has to make sure that the child is
able to get proper help and support from the government made institutions, if
needed. The board can also direct a probation officer or child welfare office
to take social investigation into the case and submit a report for the same
within fifteen days from date of first production in order to ascertain the
circumstances in which the crime was committed.
●
The board has to dispose of the order by final
verdict along with
an individual care plan for the child.
●
The board has the power to conduct regular
inspection in such child care facilities.
HOW CAN WE REDUCE JUVENILE DELINQUENCY?
1. Playing sports, one not only gets engaged but
also learns to accept failure and success, it teaches discipline, makes them
understand coordination and corporation. ([7]Khelo
India can be considered a way towards it)
2. Teachers should be
trained in a way that they are able to understand the psychology of the
children and help them choose the right path.
3. Accountability and
intervention: Parents should know about the whereabouts
of their children and the activities they are indulged in, children should be
told about the consequences of any such action, and should be brought up in a
surrounding where they feel free to talk to their parents.
4.
Awareness: Awareness programs and seminars
should be encouraged.
CONCLUSION
Juvenile delinquency is a major
world issue that needs to be tackled. With recent cases such as that of [8]Boys
locker room, we are failing to protect our children. It’s not just to reduce
crime, they are our next generation, we need to make them competent enough to
carry the development so that it does not fall back. It’s our social and
economic burden that we need to change, we cannot control a 40-year-old
criminal but we can very well control a 14 yr old juvenile delinquent. As it is
said prevention is better than cure, we should create such an environment for
children that they do not end up choosing the wrong path.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCE
● Prof. N.V. Paranjape, Criminology, Penology with
Victimology, page no 665, Central Law Publications, 17th (ed.), 2017.
SECONDARY SOURCE
● The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)
Act, 2015
● The Juvenile Justice Act, 2000
● United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child, 1989.
● The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
●
Indian
Penal Code
TERTIARY SOURCE
[2] Siegel, _Larry J.;; Welsh, Brandon (2011). Juvenile Delinquency: The Core (4th
edition.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/cengage_Learning.-ISBN 978-0534519322.
[5] TNN (31
August 2013). "Nirbhaya gang-rape case: Juvenile
found guilty of rape and murder". The Times of India. Retrieved 31
August 2013.
[8] Yadav, Jyoti
(2020-05-04). "Delhi
women's commission wants 'Bois Locker Room' probed, sends notice to Instagram,
police". ThePrint.
Retrieved 2020-05-11.
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