A petition by the National Commission for Women filed in the Supreme Court, seeking punishment for the juvenile who brutally raped Jyoti Singh, alias Nirbhaiya was dismissed on Monday. There is an overwhelming feeling that a loophole in our legal system has allowed the perpetrator of a heinous crime to escape with a ‘rap on the knuckles’ while his partners in crime rot in jail with death penalties hanging over them (though later indefinitely stayed by the Supreme Court). One has committed suicide.
Too add insult to injury the Delhi government has recently announced a rehabilitation plan for the convict. It includes a one-time financial grant of Rs 10,000 along with a sewing machine, rental space for a tailoring shop and ancillary help to sustain his business for a period of six months. Rehabilitation is an important part of the criminal justice system and the law seeks to ensure that juvenile delinquents are judged by logic rather than politics, prejudice, and uninformed passion. However, this is a case of someone who virtually got away with murder and brutal rape due to a technicality — being a mere six months short of his 18th birthday, on December 16, 2012. The focus then must be on whether he will be a threat to the very society into which the state intends that he be reinstated.
He could quite simply take advantage of the law that has forbidden the media from reporting his name or disclose data on his looks and turn it around to repeat his crime. What leads us to believe that the juvenile has had a change in heart while in the correctional home? Reports quoting his counsellor say that the offender has shown “zero remorse” for his crime and has no regret for what he had done. It is but natural that the parents of Jyoti Singh feel deeply betrayed by the legal system.
The Juvenile Justice Bill which is pending in Parliament allows juveniles between the ages of 16-18 years to be treated as “adults” for heinous offences like rape, acid attacks and murder. It is unfortunate that this landmark legislation is pending in the Rajya Sabha owing to repeated disruptions by a set of MPs who are hell bent on making this session yet another washout. Until this law is passed the juvenile who was released on Sunday can thank his lucky stars. Society can only hope that he does not repeat the crime since he must suffer from some pathological disorder to have committed such a heinous crime in the first place.