While many countries impose death penalty for juveniles, in India, there’s no difference between a juvenile and an adult. Clearly, the need of hour is to keep the definition of a juvenile flexible, based on the nature of crime
The distinction between crimes committed by a juvenile and those committed by an adult is slowly disappearing, or should I say, it has already disappearedIJ The following figures will speak for themselves.
More than 50 per cent of all crimes committed by juveniles are against women, and this saw a 92 per cent rise between 2012 and 2014. The total number of rape cases in 2012-2014 were 5,048, ie 28 per cent of all crimes in India. From 2012-2014, there were about 3,628 cases of assault on women. In the same period, the number of cases of kidnapping and abductiosn were 3,365, the number of cases of murder were 2,838 and about 2,429 cases of attempt to murder were reported. These are all figures from reliable sources.
These figures prove beyond doubt that there hardly exists any difference between the nature of crime, committed by a young criminal and an adult criminal. The division between them is just formal. Perhaps, our law-makers, while framing the juvenile law were more concerned with the rights of a juvenile than that of the victim.
Umpteen committees and commissions have been setup, but results have only been delayed. In fact, under the new Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, no investigation can be carried out against a juvenile accused until a Juvenile Justice Board determines the age of the criminal to be 16 years or 18 years.
Child rights activists are least bothered about this grievous crime. The so-called busy bodies are just bothered about the age of the criminal, irrespective of the gravity of the crime.
The new justice Bill provides that any person, aged between 16 years to 18 years, who has committed a heinous offense can be tried as an adult, regardless of the date of apprehension. Heinous crimes are defined as those that are awarded more than seven years imprisonment. Those aged between 16 years to 18 years during “serious offense” and apprehended after attaining the age of 21 years too can be tried as adults.
A simple question that the law-makers need to ask themselves is: Since criminal knows what it means to have sex, irrespective of the fact that one is an adult or a juvenile, should a juvenile not be equally guilty of the crime as an adult isIJ India is one country that allows juveniles to have a free run.
In October 2015, a man was arrested for sexually assaulting a eight-year-old girl in a forest in south east Delhi’s Jaitpur area. Abdul, the accused, lured the girl to accompany him to the market, promising to buy her a new set of clothes for Eid. After buying her clothes and some sweets, he allegedly took the minor girl to a forest and sexually assaulted her.
In yet another incident, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped when she was on her way to school and was later raped by six men, including a neighbour, inside a van at Dichaon village near southwest Delhi’s Najafgarh area in December 2015.
The police successfully rescued the girl and managed to overpower all the accused, except one. The Delhi police registered a case of abduction, gangrape, criminal intimidation and hatching a criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
Juvenile offenders are known to have been executed in only seven countries — China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. Then why is it so tough for India to adopt the sameIJ No wonder, women’s safety still remains a big question in India.
In 2015, a woman judge at Delhi’s Karkardooma district courts complex was allegedly sexually harassed by a lawyer inside the court premises.
According to the First Information Report, the incident took place on October 30 and a complaint was lodged the very next day. The accused lawyer was booked under sections 354A (sexual harassment through unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC. However, the accused lawyer has claimed that he is innocent and he was being framed by the woman judge.
Juveniles are much aware of the fact that being under-age, they will be accorded special status. It is because of these provisions that the police is helpless and unable to tackle such crimes. A major legal hurdle is that any confession made by the accused, to any police officer, has no value as it is not admissible by the law.
This reminds us of the case of a gang that set eight burgled houses on fire. The leader of the gang, Sonu openly threatened the police, saying he would be out in a month as he was 16 years of age and would teach them a lesson.
Going by statistics, the concern expressed by many is valid. The need of hour is to keep the definition of a juvenile flexible, based on the nature of the crime. Many countries follow such a principle of not making the distinction between an adult and a juvenile absolute. This is necessary because at stake is not just the human rights of the accused, but also the rights of those whom they have victimised.
In many countries, a balance is achieved by calibrating the age below which a person is considered to be a juvenile to the nature of the crime. For heinous crimes like murder or rape, age limits should be lower. This has been done in India and it was long overdue.
Be it murder, or rape, criminals should be given the maximum punishment, which can start when they have crossed the limit of juvenility. Till such time, they should be confined to the reformation home
There will always be objection to any reform, to deal with a worsening situation. If the Government were to bother and try to remove all possible objections, then it might as well close its shop. If it removes one objection, another will be ready soon. The Government should bear in mind, for all crimes what Theodore Roosevelt once said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing”.
