2019 saw uptick in juveniles caught for rape in Chandigarh

Overall, cases registered against juveniles saw a drop, with 117 in 2019 as compared to 137 in 2018 and 159 in 2017

Chandigarh Police in 2019 apprehended eight juveniles for rape, a significant rise in otherwise comparatively lean figures of those arrested for crime against women.

Though Chandigarh witnessed a dip in number of offences committed by juveniles for third year in a row as per data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), police registered eight rape cases against minors against five in 2018 and seven in 2017.

However, in 2019, only one juvenile was apprehended for outraging a woman’s modesty and two for kidnapping, against five caught for the former and three for the latter offence in 2018. In 2017, police had detained seven juveniles for rape, three for outraging modesty and five for kidnapping.

Overall, crime graph went down

Overall, cases registered against juveniles saw a drop, with 117 in 2019 as compared to 137 in 2018 and 159 in 2017.

However, Chandigarh was second to only Delhi among Union Territories that logged highest number of cases against juveniles (2,783) in 2019. At 49.7%, Delhi also recorded highest rate of crimes involving juveniles, followed by Chandigarh at 29.3%.

As many as 208 juveniles were arrested in 2019, 36 of whom were caught for theft, 14 for burglary and three for murder. “Minors take to thefts to make easy money. Many of those apprehended admitted to having committed thefts to buy expensive phones or branded clothes and shoes, while a few were lured into crime to fund their craving for drugs. In fact, the ones involved in robbery and murders were also doing it to buy drugs,” shared a senior official of Chandigarh Police, who was not authorised to speak with media.

Chandigarh Police’s endeavours

According to the police department, endeavours undertaken by the cops to impart skill development training to the children based in colonies bore fruit.

The data pointed out that 208 such juveniles were school dropouts, of whom 178 had studied up to Class 10, while 22 left after completing primary schooling. The figures also revealed that 191 juveniles stayed with their parents, nine with guardians and only eight were homeless.

UT director general of police (DGP) Sanjay Baniwal had started a skill development programme for them under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana to improve their lives and keep them away from crime and drugs.

The police identified children who were into petty crimes, drug abuse and at high risk of getting involved in major criminal activities.

NGOs were roped in that helped the police survey 22,000 children, 3,000 of whom from six peripheral areas were tagged as the high-risk category. They are in the age group of eight to 16. The police have enrolled them in vocational courses such as beauty and wellness, hospital assistance, retail store assistance, and food and beverage assistance.