By Mahika Verma
Finally, we see police and the administration getting on track.
After the 16 December Delhi rape case the recent case involving a juvenile doing heinous harm to a young girl is again bringing up the question of juvenile justice.
The incident happened on the outer side of Delhi near Narela where a 16-year-old boy took a 4-year-old girl to a construction site, raped her, murdered her and then buried her. And as like in the 16 December rape case this boy was also a minor (16 year old).
The juvenile justice board says that anyone under the age of 18 comes under the juvenile punishment. They believe that it’s a way of giving those children one more chance to improve their lives, it’s a rehabilitation process for them.
But really is the person really a juvenile while committing such heinous crime?
In the 16 December, Delhi rape case the 17-year-old accused was sent to rehabilitation instead of the jail because he was a minor by six months.
He even after being part of such a shameful act was released from the correction Centre on 20 December 2015. Protests happened, everyone was upset about the injustice which ultimately resulted in the creation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 which will replace its 2000 version.
One of the extreme changes in the Bill is that juveniles involved in Heinous Offences, basically within the age group of 16 to 18 can and will be tried as adults.
However, that area is still very murky and not clear as to what will happen, while juvenile crimes are still being committed.
But a good thing that the above mentioned case brought was that in this case even the police and the administrations are making sure that the accused is just not left unpunished and were quoted saying that “an application will soon be moved before the chairman of the JJB to seek consent to deprive the accused of benefits and reliefs that are usually bestowed on apprehended juveniles who are in conflict with the law”.
It’s a very good thing to see that now the people in power are looking at things that are wrong and are trying to bring justice in a correct manner.
The increasing level of crime in Delhi and in India as a whole, calls for more powerful and sensible laws that would improve the present scenario of the country, where the criminals are roaming around freely without fear.
If the accused is a minor but has done equally bad that an adult could have done, then he/she should be given a punishment accordingly.
Because it’s not always about the age, sometimes we need to look at criminal’s actions and how serious and inhumane they are.
Other Recommendations:
http://edtimes.in/2015/12/juvenile-justice-bill-nirbhaya/
