The government has decided that the matter of graded punishment should be considered for minors, who are accused of rape and murder. They should be tried as adults. The Women and Child Development Ministry is reported to have agreed that juveniles between 16 and 18 years committing such crimes should not be protected under the Juvenile Justice Act (JJA). This is partly due to the fact that an accused in the gang rape case in Delhi who was a few months short of 18 got off with a penalty of three years only. Juveniles involved in the gang rapes in Mumbai and Assam have strengthened the case for a change in the JJA. The maximum punishment for a juvenile criminal in India is three years.
India is among the very few countries to have 18 as the age of criminal responsibility. In Britain, it is 17. Separate youth courts try people under 18. A juvenile under 17 is can be tried as an adult in the case of serious offences like sexual assault. In the US, special courts try under-18 delinquents. According to the National Crime Records Bureau in India, the number of juveniles arrested for murder has doubled. The number of those charged with rape has gone up by over 7.5 times. The question is whether by changing the Juvenile Act, there will be a deterrent against such offences. The psychology behind rape and murder committed by minors should be looked into. In some cases, there may be an evil seed in the blood. But as a rule, the rot stems from the social milieu. Lack of education, joblessness, addiction to drugs and drinks and the culture of hooliganism lead youth bordering on adulthood to take to anti-social activity. Action should be taken to tackle the social malaise.
