Juveniles as repeat offenders in serious crimes
Coming only three days after juvenile offenders escaped from a reform centre in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, the violent home-break at a similar institution in Delhi on Sunday, has put the spotlight on to two disturbing trends: First, the inadequacy of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, to respond to the changing demographics of young criminals from a legal point of view, and second, the colossal mismanagement of juvenile homes from an administrative point of view. In both the cases, the trouble-makers were in the 15 to 17 years’ age group; many of them were repeat offenders who had been in and out of such homes much of their lives; and some of them have committed serious crimes such as murder, dacoity and theft. While in the Delhi home-break incident, the inmates went on an eight-hour-long rampage, vandalising, looting and setting a part of the building on fire, in Rewa, they attacked the lone security guard and overpowered three constables. In fact, the Delhi boys had reportedly carried out a similar stunt at another correctional facility only months ago, while the teenagers in Rewa were supposedly inspired by a major jail-break engineered by hardened Islamists in Khandwa only two days ago. When viewed together, these delinquents are more than just mischievous children or wayward youngsters who need a stern warning from the authorities to get back on track. They are criminals who have had no qualms in breaking the law of the land, and they must be punished to the fullest extent for their crime. The Delhi home's superintendent's suggestions to lower the juvenile age, segregate repeat offenders and treat them as adults, is telling. Giving juvenile offenders an easy pass on account of their age does nothing to mend their ways; it only serves to embolden them as well as others who then believe that they too can get away easily. Take the December 16 Delhi gang rape case. Not only was the almost-18-year-old juvenile offender an equal partner in the crime, but he allegedly was the most vicious. Yet, he has, for all practical purposes, gone scot-free, while the other convicts have been given the death penalty. And that is not all. Taking a cue from the Delhi case, the juvenile accused in the Mumbai gang rape case in August this year is now confident that he too will get off with a light sentence — hardly commensurate with the gravity of his crime. The lesson: The miscarriage of justice in one case leads to the mockery of the law as a whole. Clearly, there is a strong case to be made for amending the juvenile justice Act.
Simultaneously, it is imperative to focus on reinforcing the juvenile reform system, which has all but collapsed. The correctional facilities in both Delhi and Rewa — to cite two of many such instances — were ill-prepared to handle such an outbreak despite the fact that similar incidents have happened with increasing frequency in the recent past. This is just one symptom of a larger systemic failure. Juvenile homes across India are overburdened, have poor infrastructure and are managed by callous officials who are incapable of doing their job. Instead of being reformed in these homes, even small-time offenders risk becoming hardened criminals. We are seeing that happening.