JUVENILE DELINQUENCY-Should Juveniles be made responsible for their conduct?
Juvenile delinquency or Juvenile crimes have gained alarming attention in a developing country like India. Now it is almost daily that we are inundated with a vision of a violent youth population. The question which nowadays bothers us is whether the world becoming a better or worse place to live in?
We often say that the young
population is being exposed to innumerable lifetime opportunities in this
highly advanced world which will help them prosper. But is this exposure having
adverse effects, is what needs to be analysed. Gang violence, school shootings,
thefts, drug trafficking, sexual assaults and other serious wrongdoings by the young
population are being reported widely, which cautions us that juvenile crimes
are increasing at an alarming rate.[1]
Why are such so-called
innocent minds indulging in heinous offences? What causes them to think or who
pushes or forces them to ruin others and their own lives? Is it because of the
lenient laws supervising juveniles or the social circumstances? Let us
understand.
According to the UN Convention on Rights of Child, 1989
and The Juvenile Justice (care and
protection) Act, 2015 a person below the age of 18 years is considered to
be a juvenile. The juveniles in India are governed under different laws
compared to adults. The reason given for this differentiation is that generally
this age group does not have the emotional, psychological, intellectual, social
capacities to understand the repercussions of their criminal acts and so they
should not be held responsible for what they do. This distinction was also
supported by the exception given under Article
15 (Right to Equality before Law) of the Constitution of India which says
“Nothing
in this article shall prevent the state from making any special provision for
women and children.”
Let us first in brief go
through the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act[2] and how it protects
children from being tried as any common criminal. This Act divides juveniles in
two categories:
1.
Juveniles in ‘conflict with law’- a child
who is alleged to have committed an offence.
2.
Juveniles in ‘need of care and protection
of law’- children found in any vulnerable conditions.
We will be focusing on
the first category. According to this act,
·
No child can be imprisoned for life and be
awarded death penalty.
·
Every child is presumed to be innocent of
any malafide intention. (section 3)
·
A child cannot be tried with an adult.
(section 23)
·
Preliminary assessment of children between
the age group of 16-18 years committing heinous crimes is required. (section
15)
The above 4 provisions
are sufficient for understanding the position of juvenile criminals in India.
These are based on the principle that in case of children, reformation would
help more than punishments. Instead of prisons these children are kept in
observation homes or remand homes as the case may be, but only up to 3 years.
It was only after the horrifying Nirbhaya
case, it was decided that there is a need to make stricter laws for
juveniles. Now the act gives the possibility to try juveniles as adults with
certain conditions.
If we look at the social factors- chronic
familial difficulties, including spousal abuse between parents, parental
separation and divorce, child abuse and neglect, family poverty, the criminality of
parents, multiple placements outside the familial home, mental health issues, school
dropout, low employment prospects, inadequate social services for children with
special needs, racism and other barriers to full participation in society based
on discrimination, primarily contribute to juvenile crimes.[3]
It is always said that children are
subjects in need of care, for whom parents or other related adults have to make
decisions that should be in the best interest of the child. But looking at the
above problems, there is no one to monitor the behaviour of such adults with
children which in turn will not guarantee if all the decisions are always taken
for the betterment of the child.
So, the laws and the
social conditions both may trigger the criminal mind of the young.
If we focus on the
reformation aspect, juveniles are kept in remand homes so that they can be sent
back to the mainstream society where they can start their normal life. Ideally,
they are supposed to be counselled, rehabilitated, reformed and reintegrated
into the society. But are these remand homes worth sending a child to be
reformed? According to the 2013 report of Asian
Centre for Human Rights, India’s remand homes are termed as ‘India’s Hell Holes’ where the children
are subject to ill-treatment, torture, sexual harassment and living in
inhumane conditions. Due to this, there have been instances where these
children have run away from such centres.[4]
In such a situation, it
is quite possible that the child may become more revengeful after being subject
to such torture instead of reformation. It needs to be understood that the
mental state in which the child is brought to the remand home is already very
sensitive and seeing the conditions of remand homes the child might become more
dreadful and vulnerable due to which he/she may continue to commit crimes after
being released as he/she may have already processed that this the way how the
society works. So, it is extremely important to give a thought, whether
this method of reformation is really going to help the child or not and what
can be done to improve it.
On the other hand, it
cannot be always true that juveniles are not able to assess or understand the nature
of their conduct. Juveniles should be made responsible for their acts in some
cases after analysing the nature and gravity of the offence. It is not possible that the child commits rape or murder without putting some thought into it. Hence, they should not be
allowed to get away with it. Letting them free will further rot their minds and
eventually the society. However, it does not mean that they should be put in
the same prisons with adults because there might be a chance that the juveniles
may learn new crimes as the adults can be much more dangerous than children.
Finally, the juveniles need
to be taught accountability. At some point in time, it becomes necessary to
teach children, whichever background they come from, that there are certain
acts which are permitted and some which are not permissible in the society. Holding
juveniles responsible or punishing them could be a way to teach others this
lesson. It may also restrict them from committing multiple crimes. There are
higher chances that the child may continue committing crimes if let free or
kept in observation homes only for a limited time.
However, there is no
single determinant of juvenile crimes. Some say that lenient laws cause youth
crimes whereas others are of the opinion that social factors trigger them. Therefore, Government policies should always maintain
the balance between social and healthy development of the child as well as the
need to punish them to reduce crime rates.
BY
SAYALI MANDLIK
III B.A.LL.B
ILS LAW COLLEGE, PUNE
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