A sixteen-year-old boy goes to a stranger standing in a dark alley, tries to rob him of his money, as soon as the young man resists, without any further thought this boy starts stabbing him in the neck. Not one or two, but sixty times. Not only this, he kicks his head to make sure that he is dead and as soon as he is sure that he is dead, he starts laughing and leaves the place after robbing him of some Rs 350 in cash from his pocket!
How terrible does it feel to read this? But this is a true story that happened in Delhi on Tuesday night. The shocking incident has been captured on a CCTV camera. The boy who attacked is only 16 years old and the victim is 18 years old. It is mind-numbing and frightening. Three months ago, a young man called his minor friend on a street in Delhi and stabbed her to death. Interestingly, it is even more disturbing that neither of the people who passed by during these two incidents tried to stop the accused from committing the crime.
The rate of juvenile crime in the country is increasing rapidly. This budding generation, caught in the grip of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, is not only looking for a solution to poverty, but is turning to violent crimes by falling into the trap of many provocative messages that are going viral on these social media. Food, drinks and a 2 GB data pack is all they seek? How does this 16-year-old boy’s mind become so stone-deaf and cruel that it leads him to the most horrific act of violence? Against whom is this anger growing?
During the pandemic, many lost their jobs. Though, they flocked back to their village, there wasn’t employment either. As a result, this young generation got addicted to different addictions. But where will the money come from? Naturally, these children were drawn to serious crimes like theft and robbery. Uttar Pradesh ranks first in the country in child crime. In Rajasthan, there were more than 4,000 cases of child crime last year. It has seen an increase by about 1,000 compared to the previous year. Not only this, serious crimes like rape have been registered against these minors. There are several reasons for the rise in juvenile crimes. Many poor children are lured by money by seasoned criminals. One of the main reason for this is the age criteria for a juvenile offender in India.
After the Nirbhaya case, the question was raised whether the age of a juvenile offender mattered or the offence committed by him. Later, in 2014, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development introduced a bill proposing important amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000. The most important amendment was to reduce the age of a juvenile offender from 18 to 16. On August 12, 2014, the Lok Sabha passed the bill with a majority. Protection of human rights was the main objective of the 2000 Act. The main objective of the Act was to give an opportunity to the juvenile offender to understand the reasons behind it and improve it without punishing him. Under this law, if a boy or girl under the age of 18 commits a crime, he should be sent to a juvenile correctional home without being punished like other crimes. These were measures such as forcing their parents to pay fines or keeping their children in correctional facilities.
Now, under the new law, children between the ages of 16 and 18 who have committed serious crimes such as murder, rape or acid attack will be tried and punished in the same way as adults. In Singapore, the age limit is 16 and a similar undertaking is taken from the parents. In United States, the age of juvenile offenders is 18, while in some states it is 17. In England it is 10, while in France offenders in the 13-16 age group are sentenced to half the punishment and those aged between 16 and 18 are sent to jail. In small countries like the Maldives, offenders aged between 16 and 18 are considered to be matured. However, if you look at the cases of juvenile crimes in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, children under the age of 16 are also involved in serious crimes. This picture is very shocking and worrying. Actually, no criminal is born a criminal. According to psychologists, there are many causes of juvenile crimes like bad company, adolescent instability and mania, early sexual experiences, psychological conflict, passion for adventure, life on the street and, most importantly, poverty and the influence of the media. Social media that encourages young people to engage in illegal activities, should broaden their ongoing efforts to get these children out of all this, and on the other hand, reforms should be made in the system so that these children do not turn to crime.