Juvenile is the period of life from birth till the person becomes major that
means a person from birth to 18 years of age is a juvenile the basic meaning in
a lay man language is child, ,and juvenile delinquency means that the juvenile
practicing unlawful behavior as a minor or we can say that a child is involved
in heinous crime let us take one example to understand better like a ball of mud
we can give whatever shape we want we can make pitcher which satisfy thrust of
many people or can become a stone which is useless and even can harm anyone same
as in the case of a child when a child took birth it is like a ball of mud we
can give whatever shape we want weather it becomes like a pitcher who satisfy
the thrust of people or become a stone which harm people it totally depends up
on the surrounding environment or upbringing of the child if the child if we
give a child a healthy and a good environment then he adopt all moral vale which
he need.
But some time what happen is the child did not get the environment he wants may
be due to lack of communication among parents or don’t have a good friend circle
then it leads to juvenile delinquency. We can find lots of reasons behind this
here I am going to discuss about what is juvenile delinquency, reasons or
factors behind it , discuss about leading cases , what can be done to improve
this condition and at last conclusion and some learning points .
Juvenile a stage of life in which our mind is not mature enough to understand
the things around us easily or to interpret the ideology of every person around
us. it is the time when we starts making connections with outsiders and we have
no idea that what is going in their minds.
As we know the world is not as good as we see. We all have heard this proverb
BHEAD KI KHAL M BHEDIA and at this age we really don’t have any idea who
is BHEAD and who is BHEDIA particularly as we talk about
a layman language the basic meaning of juvenile is a kid or a child from birth
till the age of eighteen years but as we see the definition by law , according
to THE JUVENILE JUSTICE (care and protection of children)ACT,2000, juvenile or
child means a person who has not completed eighteen years of age , juvenile in
conflict with law means a juvenile who alleged to have committed an
offence and has not completed eighteen years of age as on the date of commission
of such offence.
But after the amendment of 2015 , JUVENILE JUSTICE (care and protection of
children) ACT, 2015 , in this act definition of juvenile is
juvenile
means a person who has not completed eighteen years of age.
Child in conflict with law means a child who alleged or found to have
committed an offence and who has not completes eighteen years of age on the date
of commission of such offence.
Now the second word comes is delinquency the simple meaning of delinquency is
any wrong full act or the act which is unconstitutional or against the law
especially among young generation, when we combine both of these words then it
becomes juvenile delinquency which means any wrong full act or
criminal behaviour done by a minor or the person below eighteen years of age, as
per recent definition, the term
juvenile delinquent or
children in conflict with law refers to any children below the eighteen years
who has come in contact with juvenile justice system as result of committing a
crime or being suspected of committing a crime .
It must be kept in the mind that the number of cases recorded for juvenile
delinquency till 2000, the age of juvenile boy and girl brought at par as below
18 years. Our government after the amendment classify the age category so that
punishment can easily be decided, which is as follows the juvenile below 7 years
of age there will be no punishment, the between 7 to 16 years should be treat
according to juvenile and between 16 to 18 if involve in heinous crime then
treated as adult.
Factors Responsible For Juvenile Delinquency
No One Is A Criminal From Birth Take a minute and just think
that only that particular juvenile is responsible for the act he has done. Did
he know anything that what he is going to do or any idea from birth that he
wants to kill that particular person or he has to rape in upcoming future, no
absolutely not it is the environment in which he grows that makes him a criminal
or a respected man.
It totally depends up on the upbringing of that child if he has given a good and
healthy environment he becomes a reputed person or if he brings up in a bad
company he becomes a criminal. A child when took birth he is just like a ball of
mud it is up to a potter that what he is going to make with it if he work hard
on it then it becomes a pot or any other useful thing but if he doesn’t work
hard on it than it stay as it is and become a stone which can harm anyone if we
think about the cause or the situation in which a juvenile put steps in the
world of crime we can find n number of reasons it is not that particular child
who is responsible for that happening it is the whole environment who is
responsible which is around him.
So let us go point by point to understand these reason in better manner, let us
divide these reasons in four parts i.e. 1.FAMILY, 2.PSYCOLOGY 3.SOCILA 4. OTHERS
let us take them one by one :
Family
- Lack of understanding: lack of understanding among parents towards each
other or towards their children, now let us first talk about lack of
understanding towards each other there is one phrase in Hindi SHADI KA
LAADOO JO KHAE VO PACHTAE JO NA KHAE VO PACHTAE but sometimes
what happen is marriage needs sacrifice and understand if one of the partner
shows some maturity and do sacrifice and adjustment according to other
partner then marriage becomes successful but sometimes no one is ready to un
distend the situation and no one is ready to do compromise for other then
the marriage doesn’t work and it will directly affect the mind set of their
children, children start going outside to find peace for mind and some other
outsider took advantage from it and dispath the child and now the second
part is lack of understanding towards children, it is the Indian psychology
that BACCHE MAA BAAP KI GAGIR HOTE H from the time of
birth parent start imposing their decision from birth without asking them
what they want, child is just like an air in container AAP US
HAVA KO JITNA PRESS KRO G VO UTHI HI JOR SAE BHAR AAE GA as a result
the child goes in depression and chose wrong path due to pressure of parents
although now a day6 due to modernisation we find very less cases in this
domain.
- partiality among children: in India there is a scenario of
classification of children Y BADA BETA H Y RESPONSIBLE HO GA , Y CHOTA
BETA H Y LADLA HIS SAE JAYDA KAAM NA KARVAO as we can see the elder
son should be responsible because he is elder in the house but younger son
can do anything because he is younger in house but sometimes children are
not able to adjust with this situation and dispath the life and may join the
wrong company. Sometimes step parent is not able to love and take care as
the real parent so step child feel uncomfortable among parents
- lack of child among children: as we all know today no one has time to
take rest everyone is running behind money, sometime what happen is in
metropolitan city both the parent are working and no time for their child
they go to office at 9am sharp and come back at evening 6 pm now the totally
up bringing of child in the hand of maids and drivers so as we all know what
they all going g to taught to that child.
Psychology
Psychology is most important factor that decides the future of child
- Wants to gain maximum pleasure : in today society everyone wants to get
fane and popular among their social circle, everyone wants to be in spot
light and specially among teenager so juvenile starts taking drugs,
intoxicants etc.
- Become rich: everyone wants to become rich everyone needs money , but as
we all know it needs hard work but in fast and furious society no one wants
to have patients and do hard work everyone needs shortcut for success so
some teenager moves towards bad habits gambling, drug supply etc.
- Isolation: some child like loneliness they do not like more
socialization, they sit quietly and separately they don’t like to shear
their feelings, these kind of children are more dangerous and attract
towards bad things easily.
- Physical problem: those kids who are physically challenged are point of
attraction in society that they want more care and love so people and police
are less bother abbot to check them so they can easily be useful in
smuggling.
Societal:
- Bad company : as we all know human is a social animal, he needs a social
circle to live in which he can share his views or his emotion as every coin
has two faces one is good other is bad some time a teenager may join bad
company which took him to such heinous crime
- No surveillance of the society: if we talk about twentieth century it
was the time when cities are not so large and crowded and we have very small
villages people live together like family a child belonging to other family
was treated like our family, if any child of village found doing something
wrong, the person saw him can punish him or he took to his parents but now a
day’s specially in metropolitan cities no one is care about what is
happening everyone is happy in their own world , in some cases people
doesn’t know that who is leaving in their neighbour.
- Cast system : cast system as we can see it is the criteria of
differentiating the people on the basis of their work or their stand red of
leaving, in India we have mainly fore cast i.e. Brahmins , shatriyas,
veshyas and last one is shudders and their work and standard of leaving is
well defined in the society, no one is allowed to interfere each other’s
work. As we can see shudders has given all low from other cast so as a
result of discrimination they put step in world of crime for money and fame.
Others
- Poverty: India a developing country and with highest poverty
rate. Every person wants to earn money and increase their standard of
living. Juvenile from backward section is easy to manipulate.
- Lack of education: after more than seventy years of independence
more than twenty five percent of people are ill rate in our country. So
these people can manipulate easily or can brain wash easily.
Types of Crime Juvenile Commit And The Top States In India
As we see by Indian prospective we mainly find the crime which is done by
juveniles are rape, gambling, drug supply, steeling, acid attacks etc. as we
know juvenile is the stage of life in which one sex attracts towards opposite
sex and due to that aggressiveness they forgot their limits and may commit these
kind of punishable , heinous offence.
As we all know teen age is the age in which our sex organs starts growing and we
all are so enthusiastic to use them but as an Indian kid no one tells us that
how to use them and how to control feelings just tock one situation you are a
boy of 13 or 14 years of age and you saw an ad of condom on TV now you go to
your father and ask about it, then what is his reply, he will scold you and ask
to be quite.
There are very few parents who can openly talks about sex education with their
children. But the question is still a question and it the age when we are so
enthusiastic to know each and every thing now your next step is you go outside
and ask an outsider weather your servant, driver or any school peon, will he
tell something which you have to know, absolutely not. It is the age when
everybody wants fame in their social circle and taking drugs , gambling is a
matter of proud for teen agers among their friend circle.
In India we have top four states who are largely involve in juvenile delinquency
these are Maharashtra, Madhya padres, utter parades, Bihar, as we see the
prospective of MP,UP, and Bihar the main reason we find is the lack of education
lager population, as we can see in UP there is a town name Amphora basically it
is a backward area. In this town we can easily find one couple having twenty
children with not enough earning to feed them properly and due to lack of
intention these children may enter in world of crime but if we see the case of
Maharashtra the first thing which comes in mind is
the city of dreams –
Mumbai Mumbai is the city where every one wants to go and live and it
is the city where all the reasons I mentioned above fitted on it.
Some Facts And Figures
It is the Indian mindset that those children who are homeless or under poverty
line ore who don’t have proper recourses do such kind of things, up to a limit
it is correct but after that it is wrong . according to the 2016 report of
National Crime Report Bureau only 3.5 percent of crime has been done by homeless
children rest are done by the juvenile who has home and good environment and if
we see according to education the juvenile who are 16 years of age or above and
involved in crime 45% of people has done their primary education but not tenth
pass. So education is most important factor in a growth of child.
If we see the decades growth, in 2003 the total offence done by juvenile are
four hundred sixty six and in 2013 it increases by seventeen hundred and thirty
seven. In 2016 there are fourteen hundred and eighty five crime were recorded of
kidnapping and abdication in which eight hundred and seventeen is done for
marriage purpose. All these data is taken from the reports publish in daily
national terbium likes The Hindus, times of India and from the sight of NCRB.
Laws Deals With These Types of Cases
The first legislation convening children which came in 1850 was the Apprentice
Act which provided that children in the age group of 10-18 convicted by courts
were intended to be provided with some vocational training which might help
their rehabilitation. It was followed by Reformatory Schools Act, 1897. The
Indian Jail Committee (1919-1920) brought to the fore the vital need for square
trial and treatment of young offenders.
Its recommendations prompted the enactment of the Children Act in Madras in
1920. This was followed by Bengal and Bombay Acts in 1922 and 1924 respectively.
The three pioneer statutes (i.e. Acts concerning Madras, Bengal and Bombay) were
extensively amended between 1948 and 1959.
In 1960 at the second United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and
Treatment of offenders at London this issue was discussed and some therapeutic
recommendations were adopted.
The Central enactment, the Children Act, 1960 was passed to cater to the heads
of the Union Territories. To remove same inherent lacunae of the above mentioned
Act, the Children (Amendment) Act was passed in 1978. But the need of a uniform
legislation regarding juvenile justice for the whole country had been expressed
in various fore, including Parliament but it could not be enacted on the ground
that the subject matter of such a legislation fell in the State List of the
Constitution.
To bring the operations of the juvenile justice system in the country in
conformity with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile
Justice, Parliament seems to have exercised its power under Article 253 of the
Constitution read with Entry 14 of the Union List to make law for the whole of
India to fulfill international obligations. On 22nd August, 1986, the Juvenile
Justice Bill, 1986 was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Then the next amendment is made in 2000 and we got juvenile justice act,2000 in
which some age limit is fixed and punishment is fixed for particular crime, then
the saddest news comes on December 16,2012 forum country capital that one girl
is gang rapped by five people and one of them is minor, name Mohammad Afroz (Raju)
who is few month left to become major, now the question arises is that he should
be treated as major or minor because we all know that at that stage he is mature
enough to understand the consequences’ of what he has done, after a long wait of
two and half year our parliament passed juvenile justice act ,2015. On 7th
may,2015 Lok Sabha bill passed by Lok Sabha Sabah and on december22,2015 rajya
sabha passed this bill and on January 15,2016 came into force.
- The basic difference between juvenile justice act,2000 and juvenile
justice act 2015 are The law permits juveniles between 16-18 years of age to
be tried as adults for heinous offences.
- Under new Juvenile Justice law, those in 16-18 age group will be
examined by Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) to assess if crime was committed as
child or adult.
- JJB with psychologists and social experts will ensure rights of juvenile
are protected if crime was committed as a "child".
- After the passage of the bill, each district in the country will get
Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) and Child Welfare Committees.
- The first legislation on juvenile justice in India came in the year 1850
which required that children between the ages of 10-18 years, convicted in
courts should be provided vocational training as a part of their
rehabilitation process.
- This Act was further amended in 2006 and 2011 and is now known as the
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000.
- In May 2015, a bill providing the trial of juveniles aged between 16-18
years, for heinous crimes under laws governing adults, was passed by the Lok
Sabha.
Steps Taken By The Governments
If we see the Indian prospective, Indian government believe in rehabilitation
process, they don’t believe to kill the criminal, they believe to kill in inner
criminal of criminal by the process of rehabilitation and for make it enforce
our government take save steps which are as follows:
- Special children courts: special children courts are establish in every
district of country to settle these kind of cases and also fix the
punishment limit that is weather give warning to culprit in normal crimes or
less heinous crime or if crime is serious than give punishment up to 3 years
- Juvenile justice act,2015 : after Nirbhaya rape case our parliament make
amendment that these culprit between 16 to 18 years of age should be treated
as adult and the culprit who are between 7 to 14 years of age there should
be no capital punishment for them and also classify the age limits for
juvenile justice which are as follows the culprit below 7 years of age there
should be no punishment. After 7 to 16 years of age they should be treated
leadingly according to juvenile justice act. Between 16 and 18 years of age
if done heinous crime should be treated as adult.
- Rehabilitation center: also known as remand house or stimulation centre
in which culprit kept for 24 hours and done all the investigation and cross
questioning with culprit then presented in front of magistrate.
- Borstal house: only for 15 years of age, given industrial tanning ,
moral values, music , yoga and dance tanning
- Certified school: for 10to 16 years and juvenile kept there for 2 to 3
years and done counselling there.
- Nutritional centre: only for less than 10 years and provided proper
basic education and proper nutrition.
Loop Holes
- In India we have very less number of juvenile justice courts and a long
process of trail we have to follow
- As we all know juveniles are not mature enough to deal with other
criminal in jail and not so kind they will kept with under 16 years of age
because if they kept with above 18 then they may dominate by other criminal
and if kept with under 16 they will dominate them so kept in diff jails
- Borstal school are allowed to take admission up to 15 years of age so it
should be increased and took admission from 15 to 18 years of age less than
15
- In these type of cases the whole things revolve around psychology so the
judges who have good psychological skills promote in this area
- e cannot transfer case in adult easily, acc. To sec 15 we have to take
permission from JJB
What Can Be Done To Change Prospective
- Increase the number of courts and a speedy trial should be followed
- Age limit of borstal schools should be increased as the population of
commuting crime is more between 15 to 18 years of age so it should be
increased .
- Integration of self help group and ngo so that they can guide these kind
of children and show them correct path proper rehabilitation and sincere
skills so that when they go out they should no depend on other and can start
new life and earn lively hood easily
- All the children from this age should kept away from sexual content as
much as possible, only up to an limit
- Something has to be done in slum area like awareness programme etc.
Conclusion And Learning's
- A criminal is not a criminal by birth is the situation which makes him
criminal, first we have to understand situation and then make some decision
- Parents should understand the situation of their children and make
communication with them and regular surveillance over them
- Children should think and then decide their company and they should know
what is good and what is bad for them.
- There should be more strict rules so that some example should be set for
the society
- There should be no leniency in heinous crime as done in the case of Ryan
International school
Written By: Bharat Kumar
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