Delhi has a ‘minor’ problem: Juveniles involved in 6 crimes a day, says NCRB data
Minors were booked for 51 murders last year in Delhi. On 81 other occasions, they attempted to kill.
Last Friday, a group of five boys, all aged between 13 and 16, allegedly stabbed a teenager to death inside a moving bus in south Delhi.
Last year, a 17-year-old boy accused of murder came out of a correction home and went on to kill another person within days.
According to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), more than six crimes were committed by children every day in Delhi last year.
The national capital accounted for 35.6% of all offences by juveniles in 19 metropolitan cities — places with population of over two million. A total of 2,368 cases against juveniles were registered in Delhi of the 6,645 cases registered across 19 cities. Mumbai comes a distant second with 946 such cases.
Data show a lot of these crimes the minors indulged in qualified under heinous category. Minors were booked for 51 murders last year. On 81 other occasions, they attempted to kill.
Juveniles in Delhi allegedly committed 143 rapes and were allegedly involved in 295 other sexual harassment crimes such as molestation, stalking and voyeurism.
Dependra Pathak, Delhi Police’s chief spokesperson, acknowledged the problem involving children but said the police have a limited role when it comes to preventing crimes involving juveniles. “Lack of healthy parenting and children dropping out of school also leads them to crime,” said Pathak.
“We are making extra efforts to wean children away from crime, but it is also the responsibility of other departments such as the social welfare and the education to help keep them in the mainstream,” Pathak said.
Several incidents of minors involved in robberies and thefts have been reported in the recent years, the most recent notable case being the robbery leading to murder inside the bus.
Through 2016, minors allegedly committed 915 thefts or burglaries. But a lot of them also used weapons or other kinds of force to get their way. Figures showed that there were 377 robbery or dacoity cases perpetrated by minors.
Across India, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra led with 7,369 and 6,606 cases respectively, in which minors were booked in 2016.