The latest Juvenile Justice Act states that the process of rehabilitation and social integration of juvenile delinquents or children in conflict with law shall be undertaken in the observation homes, if the child is not released on bail or in special homes or place of safety or fit facility or with a fit person, if placed there by the order of the Board.
The Children’s Court must guarantee that, in the case of a child in conflict with the law, the final order includes an individual care plan for the child’s rehabilitation, which includes follow-up by the probation officer, the District Child Protection Unit, or a social worker. The Children’s Court must also ensure that the probation officer, the District Child Protection Unit, or a social worker, as required, submits a periodic follow-up report every year to evaluate the child’s progress in the place of safety and to ensure that the child is not subjected to any form of ill-treatment.
However despite the strictness and use of strong punishment measures for juveniles offenders committing heinous crimes the Act respects International treaties and conventions signed and ratified by India. Section 21 of the JJ Act, 2015 also mentions that “No child in conflict with the law shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment without the possibility of release. As a result, while punishment for an offence may be “death” (Section 302, IPC) or “imprisonment for life, which may mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life” (Section 376-A, IPC), such a sentence cannot be imposed on a juvenile offender.
Juvenile Immunity: (In IPC; Section 82 and Section 83)
Section 82 and Section 83 of the Indian Penal Code grants immunity to juvenile offenders from criminal responsibility. The idea of granting immunity to juvenile offenders comes from the accepted notion that moral delinquency is an prerequisite of criminal liability and hence young children could not be made liable for criminal guilt.
Sec 82 states that “Act of a child under seven years of age. – Nothing is an offence which is done by a child under seven years of age”. Section 82 provides absolute immunity which absolves a child under the age of 7 years of criminal responsibility as a child below this age is considered doli incapax (deemed incapable) by law. Hence if a child below the age of 7 is charged for committing an offence then the mere fact that the accused child was below 7 years of age is ipso facto (by the very fact) an answer to prosecution. The scope of the absolute immunity granted under this section is wide enough to exempt a child not only from prosecution for offences under IPC but also offences under the special as well as local laws.
Section 83 provides qualified immunity to a child between the age group of 7 to 12 years of age. According to this section if it shows that a child of the above stated age group has not attained maturity to judge the nature and consequences of his act then he is exempted from his /her criminal responsibility. The presumption of innocence of a child is based on the idea that malice makes up for age i.e. malitia supplet aetatem. And hence as age advances the maxim loses its force. The presumption of innocence can also be rebutted by the evidence off “mischievous discretion” i.e. knowledge that what was done was morally wrong.
Under Indian law a child above the age of 12 is fully liable and responsible for his or her deeds under criminal law. However unless the child attains the age of majority i.e. 18 years there are certain safeguards for the juvenile offenders. These include – prohibition on execution, classification of offences into –petty, serious and heinous offences, separate trials for children.
Delinquency among juvenile girls
Similarly, like crime committed by adults there is a universal agreement among criminologists that girls and women fall foul of law much less frequently than boys or men. And even if they commit delinquent activities they are not very aggressive or destructive to the society and can be regarded as dangerous and can be considered in a much less serious light. This is partly because of the biological factors as girls are less aggressive. There is some evidence that high levels of estradiol and progesterone are associated with low levels of aggression and both these hormones are present in girls at a high level.
Apart from this girls have a very strong familial ties which is much more stronger as compared to boys who during their adolescence mostly have a strong peer ties and as we know that peer pressure and peer misguidance often leads juveniles to delinquency is mostly absent among girls. Thus apart from genetic or biological factors their social upbringing also makes them less prone to delinquent behaviour.
Women are brought up to be mostly reserved and their socialization in our patriarchal society leads to a form of personality among the females that is characterised by being more prudent, more timid , more lacking in enterprise and most importantly this guards them against delinquency.
The behaviour of boys are more sensitive to environmental influences, and may require relatively small stresses to become delinquent, compared with large stress needed in case of the girl. However the greater immunity enjoyed by the girls over boys regarding their proneness and susceptibility to delinquent behaviour can impaired by physical and psychological disadvantages and they may be overwhelmed if the environmental forces are of unusual strength and may lead them to unlawful activities.
Female juvenile offenders are mostly found to be engaged in prostitution or helping their family members to carry out their illegal profession or in a few cases are engaged in stealing (because of poverty). According to the “Crime in India” report 99% of the juveniles apprehended for crimes in 2018 were boys.
The factors that lead girls to engage in delinquent activities are the same as for boys- these include mostly families engaged in criminal or unlawful activities, extreme poverty, broken homes, presence of antisocial elements in the locality or vicinity and coming in contact with them.
Conclusion
In Indian perspective the juvenile delinquency is negligible as compared to the western countries. The data shows from the National Crimes Report Bureau report that the percentage of juvenile crimes to total crimes is 1.2% in 2013. But it is found from the statistics that it is slightly increasing from 1.00% to 1.20% from 2003 to 2013.
Though it is negligible but alarming hence focus on this matter is required to be given to make our country free from criminality. Only a retributive or deterrent approach cannot curb the problem. Positive measures like reformation, rehabilitation, and re-integration with the society at large is required to be adopted in this regard.
References and Bibliography:
1. Criminology and Criminal Administration by J.P.S. Sirohi.
2. A Critical Analysis on Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015; [Author -Nadendla Roja Rani (LL.M) Co-Author – Ramswaroop Pareek(LL.M)].
3. SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR INCREASING JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AND VARIOUS REHABILITATIVE MEASURES OF GOVERNMENT by Mrs. Vaishali. C. Achakanalli & S. I. Kumbhar.
4. Analysis: The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 by Deepali Sherawat from NMIMS, Mumbai.
5. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 — Critical Analysis by Ritwik Tyagi.
6. Dr Souvik Chatterji, Law of Crimes with an introduction to Criminology, Penology and Victimology, Thomson Reuters South Asia Publication, 2017, 1st Edition.
