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‘Bravado’ a common element in Pune’s Koyta gang juveniles
With an increasing number of juveniles seen as part of the Koyta or sickle-wielding gangs in and around the city, Hindustan Times attempted to trace the reasons behind the involvement of these minors in these gangs and found that a penchant for bhaigiri (colloquial term for bossing around) and bravado are among the main ones apart from delinquent aggression driven by circumstances, heroism, easy money, and the availability of weapons
With an increasing number of juveniles seen as part of the Koyta or sickle-wielding gangs in and around the city, Hindustan Times attempted to trace the reasons behind the involvement of these minors in these gangs and found that a penchant for bhaigiri (colloquial term for bossing around) and bravado are among the main ones apart from delinquent aggression driven by circumstances, heroism, easy money, and the availability of weapons.
A 15-year-old juvenile delinquent involved in a Koyata incident last month is a school dropout whose parents have separated even as his mother works as a maid to support the family. The police said that he may have come into contact with established criminals and later started terrorising the locals in a bid to be feared and respected like them.
Similarly, a 17-year-old juvenile delinquent involved in another Koyata incident is a student of Class 11 whose mother passed away when he was in Class 6. His father is a construction labourer and an alcoholic. The police said that he used to spend most of his time outside the house and as such, came into contact with established criminals through another minor. The lure of easy money drew him in and he now terrorises locals with weapons among other criminal activities. According to child activist Yamini Abde, he may have been drawn to criminal activities due to a fascination for bhaigiri and bravado. The more time he spent with criminals, the more he aspired to be powerful, respected and feared like them.
“Minors are easy to use for crimes because the gangsters do not have to spend on lawyers for them. They are dealt with by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB). They get out of legal conflicts in a short span of time and are drawn into criminal activities again. It’s almost like these children are recycled and reused by the gangsters,” Abde said. According to Abde, there are many habitual offenders (serious crimes) amongst these juvenile delinquents and they are a regular feature in most observation homes. However, they get out of these homes after a few counselling sessions and are reconnected with these gangs.
In the wake of rising Koyata terror, Pune police commissioner Retesh Kumaar has decided to appoint 450 beat marshals 24x7 across the city as a confidence-building initiative for the people. “Under the beat marshal patrolling programme, we will depute 450 marshals with 125 motorcycles for 24 hours in the affected areas to take preventive action/s,” Kumaar said. Additionally, the police have prepared 42 proposals to request the JJB to treat juvenile delinquents as adults considering the seriousness of their crimes. “We have requested the JJB to treat juveniles aged 16 to 18 years as adults. The board will give its verdict on this within 90 days,” Kumaar said.
