HT Chandigarh Our Take: Why we need to act now to save juvenile delinquents

The fact that 209 juveniles were arrested last year is a telling commentary on the negative influences on youngsters today

They are young, just beginning life, so the figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau related to juvenile crimes and Chandigarh Police apprehending eight juveniles for rape and registering 117 cases against others in the city for various offences in 2019 are definitely a cause for concern.

NGOs were roped in to help the police survey 22,000 children, 3,000 of whom from six peripheral areas were identified as high-risk. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The number of rape cases had come down last year as against five in 2018 and seven in 2017, and other offences too showed a dip from 137 in 2018 and 159 in 2017. But the fact that 209 juveniles were arrested last year is a telling commentary on the negative influences on youngsters today.

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

Thirty six others had been caught for theft, 14 for burglary and three for murder.

Refraining from commenting on sexual offences a senior Chandigarh police official on condition of anonymity said, “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, he added.

The police are making efforts to mainstream many of these offenders by training them in various skills under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana to improve their lives and keep them away from crime and drugs. NGOs had also been roped in to help the police survey 22,000 children, 3,000 of whom from six peripheral areas were identified as high-risk. They have been enrolled with police help in vocational courses.

For an understaffed police force that’s also under tremendous pressure to handle rising crime rates in the city, these are commendable efforts, but a lot more needs to be done to save these young lives.

SAVE LIVES

Can juvenile delinquents be mainstreamed?

What immediate interventions can help mainstream juvenile delinquents? Send your responses with a photograph to Chandigarh@hindustantimes.com by October 16.