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First six months see 40% more number of juveniles apprehended in Chandigarh go
While 60 juveniles were apprehended in as many as 42 cases in Chandigarh in the first six months last year, police have already nabbed 81 in the corresponding period this year
The involvement of juveniles in crime has increased over the last few years, data from the Chandigarh police has shown.
While 60 juveniles were apprehended in as many as 42 cases in the first six months last year, police have already nabbed 81 in a total 46 criminal cases in the corresponding period this year.
In 2022, the total number of juveniles apprehended by the Chandigarh police crossed the 100-mark, finishing at 116. Pertinently, only 75 juveniles were arrested in 2021 in total.
In another concerning finding, their involvement in heinous and violent crimes has also gone up. While only one juvenile was apprehended for murder in the first six months last year, police have already nabbed 12 juveniles in three murder cases till date in 2023.
Ten juveniles, meanwhile, landed in the police net for rape this year in comparison to two from the corresponding period last year. Four others, meanwhile, have been apprehended for attempted murder in 2023, up from two in the first six months last year. As many as 16 juveniles were taken in for rioting in the first half of this year against four.
Notably, police last month apprehended eight juveniles after they stabbed a 16-year-old boy to death in Mauli Jagran on June 23 over a personal enmity. In another shocking incident, a Class 7 student at a government was allegedly gang raped by five boys from her school in May.
Besides, robbery and dacoity cases saw four and one.juveniles land in police, while nine were apprehended for snatching, two for burglaries, 17 for thefts, one for abduction and three for cases registered under the Arms Act this year.
In the period, a total of 22 juveniles were apprehended twice and 10 juveniles thrice or more.
Outskirts emerge as hotspots
The data also pinpointed the location of most of the juveniles apprehended since 2021, 228 of the total 272 to colonies and rural areas on the outskirts of Chandigarh.
Of the 81 juveniles that landed in police net till June this year, 68 juveniles resided in these colonies. Similarly, 99 of the 116 and 61 of 75 juveniles apprehended last year also resided in colonies or rural areas of Chandigarh.
When asked about the plans to reform the juveniles and keep them away from a life of crime, senior superintendent of police Kanwardeep Kaur said, “In order to channelise the energy of teenagers in the right direction and to keep them away from the crime world, we recently organised a job fair.”
“We have also started a programme named Urja which is for teenagers to create child friendly and drug free communities for vulnerable children in three identified areas of Chandigarh including Dadumajra, Maloya, Dhanas, Badheri, colonies of Sector 25 and 54. Moreover our teams are regularly conducting checks in these colonies and keeping a strict vigil on the miscreants,” she added.
Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights’s former chairperson Devi Sirohi, meanwhile, emphasised on the need to conduct regular surveys to check students from the hotspots not attending the schools and a mechanism to provide them with counselling.
“Children residing in these colonies need to have good parks in their area where they can play. Moreover they should be indulged in extra curricular activities and local administration should hold summer camps for these students so that they don’t get indulged in wrong activities,” Sirohi said.
From the period of January 1, 2021, till May 31, 2023, a total of 94 juveniles were convicted by the concerned juvenile courts — including 33 this year till June, 46 convictions in 2022 and 15 juveniles convicted in 2021.
