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Juvenile Crimes : Need of Assistance

Juvenile Crimes : Need of Assistance

- By Harsh Tyagi* 


India is one amongst those countries where the Juvenile Crimes are increasing day by day. Children are considered to be the gift from God. They are considered as the future of the nation, but the rapid and immense growth rate of Juvenile Crime is increasing the fear of nations development. Children are the Nations greatest Asset and are expected to be obedient, respectful and have some good qualities them. Due to some reasons the percentage of the children do not follow the legal dictum. The crimes by the Juvenile are harsh and cruel truth of India. In the recent times the Juveniles are involved in very cruel crimes such as gang rape, murder, robbery and many more, which leaves the society with terror and fear of their life and of the nation.

The Minor are these days getting into deep depression that they do not think much and commit wrongful acts which leaves a deep devastating affects to many. What has happened to the Nation? Who can be liable for all these acts of Juvenile? How can it be Solved? These are some of the questions which might be asked by many but the exact solution cannot be justified. The minds of the Minor or the Juvenile has been developed in such a way that they may even think and plot more negative and cruel things which even a major could think of.

There is a thin line between a Minor and Juvenile, being the same meaning in dictionary but a bit difference in the term of Law. A Minor is a child who has not attained the age of an adult or a major i.e. 18 yrs whereas a juvenile is a child who has neither attained the age of an adult or a major but has committed a criminal offence under the eyes of law and the society. The Juvenile is sent to the Juvenile Justice Board under the guidance and improvement of the Child. They are not treated as the Major and are not sent to the Jail and are also not given the same punishment as of a Major or an adult.

 

In India, the first legislation dealing with children in conflict with law or children committing crime was the Apprentices Act, 1850. It provided that children under the age of 15 years found to have committed petty offences will be bounded as apprentices. Thereafter, the Reformatory Schools Act, 1897 came into effect which provided that children up to the age of 15 years sentenced to imprisonment would be sent to reformatory cell.

After the Independence, with an aim to provide care, protection, development and rehabilitation of neglected or delinquent juveniles, our Parliament enacted the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986. It was an Act which brought uniform system throughout the country.

Section 2(a) of the Act defined the term ‘juvenile’ as a “boy who has not attained the age of 16 years and a girl who has not attained the age of 18 years”.

Later on the Parliament enacted the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 which raised the age bar to 18 years for both girl and boy.

 

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 lays down that juvenile in conflict with law or juvenile offenders may be kept in an ‘Observation Home’ while children in need of care and protection need to be kept in a ‘Children Home’ during the pendency of proceedings before the competent authority.

A juvenile can be detained only for a maximum period of 3 years irrespective of the gravity of offence committed by him and he will be remanded to ‘Special Home’. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 provides immunity to the child who is less than 18 Years of age at the time of the commission of the alleged offence from trial through Criminal Court or any punishment under Criminal Law in view of Section 17 of the Act.

The purpose of this new Act was to rehabilitate the child and assimilate him/her in mainstream society. The rationale is that a child still has the possibility of getting reformed due to his/her tender age and lack of maturity and it is the responsibility of the State to protect and reform the child.

The reason to the increasing crime rate amongst the Juvenile could be the use of Latest Technologies and latest gadgets which have their positive and negative both the aspects, it depends on the person to whom should he opt for. It becomes so easy for the children to adopt the negative aspect of life rather going to the positive phase of it. New technology and gadgets have given the children the right to have easy access to all the negative things that might leave an immense change in the child. The working parents are not able to give a reasonable and required time to their children to teach them the societal behaviour and the difference between the Right and Wrong. They are not giving their valuable and experienced positive knowledge to their children due to which the crime rate amongst the Juvenile has increased a lot. The pressure and burden that is imposed on the child sine the very starting either leaves the child in depression or makes him take wrong steps which may affects not only them but may affect to the Society at large.

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*Associate Director (Research & Publication), ProBono India II Year B.B.A LL.B (Hons.) G.G.S.I.P University, Delhi 

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 References:-

      http://www.indiacelebrating.com/social-issues/juvenile-crimes/