JUVENILE DELIQUENCY

JUVENILE DELIQUENCY

By Parichita Basak

Children are considered to be gifts from God and are greatest personal as well as national assets. We as individuals, parents, guardians and society as a whole have a duty that children should be allowed and provided opportunity to grow up in a healthy socio-cultural environment so that they could become responsible citizens, physically fit, mentally alert and morally healthy. It is the duty of the State to provide equal opportunities for development to all children during the period of their growth which would reduce inequality and ensure social justice. Children are expected to be obedient, respectful and have virtues and good quality in them. However, due to various reasons certain percentage of children do not follow settled social and legal dictum. Such children are most often than not get involved in criminal behaviour which is known as juvenile delinquency or juvenile crime.

Crime by juveniles is a harsh reality in India. In recent times juveniles were found to be involved in most heinous of the crimes such as murder and gang rape. It’s a disturbing trend and society as a whole is anguished by such criminal acts by children. 

Juvenile means a person who is very young, teenager, adolescent or underage. In other words, juvenile means children who have not yet reached the age of adults in the sense that they are still childish or immature. Sometimes the term “child” is also interchangeably used for the term “juvenile”.

Legally speaking, a juvenile can be defined as a child who has not attained a certain age at which he can be held liable for his criminal acts like an adult person under the law of the country. Juvenile is a child who is alleged to have committed certain acts or omissions which are in violation of any law and are declared to be an offence. In terms of law, a juvenile is a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years. It has a legal significance. 

Petty crimes in general and heinous crimes in particular are being committed regularly in India by children. Crimes such as theft, burglary, snatching which are not so serious in nature or crimes such as robbery, dacoity, murder and rape etc which are relatively serious are on the rise in whole of the country. And the unfortunate thing is that all types of these crimes are also being committed by children below the age of 18 years. Among juveniles also there is a specific trend that juveniles between the age of 16 to 18 years are found to be more involved in heinous criminal acts.

The recent inhuman gang rape of a young girl on December 16, 2013, shocked the collective conscience of the nation. The brutality with which the heinous crime was committed was most shocking; it was later found out that among five accused, one was minor and he was the most barbaric one.

No one is a born criminal. Circumstances make him so. Socio-cultural environment, both inside and outside of home, plays significant role in shaping one’s life and overall personality.

Some of the most common causes which are associated with juvenile crimes are: Poverty; Drug Abuse; Anti-social Peer Group; Easy availability of firearms; Abusive parents; Single-parent child; Nuclear Family; Family Violence; Child sexual abuse and Role of Media.

However, as far as India is concerned, it is Poverty and the effect of media, especially the social-media which make juveniles more inclined towards criminal activities.

Poverty is one of the biggest causes which force a child to get involved in criminal acts. Also, role played by social media today which is having a more negative than positive imprints on young minds.