In the wrong lane

* In April this year,a teenaged boy allegedly tried to rape a minor girl in a public toilet in Palsora colony.

Chandigarh’s crime graph is showing a disturbing trend — crimes committed by juveniles are increasing. In the last three years,415 juveniles were arrested by the Chandigarh Police in 297 cases.

According to police records,maximum number of these minors were involved in theft cases — 62 in 2007,75 in 2008 and 53 in 2009.

Next in line are burglary cases in which 36 minors have been arrested since 2007. From three juveniles in 2007,the number of those allegedly involved in burglaries jumped to 21 in 2008.

In rioting cases as well,the number of minors allegedly involved rose from seven in 2007 to 35 in the last two years. Further,two minors were arrested in kidnapping cases in 2008,two in murder and four in rape cases in 2009.

A majority of these minors are between 12 and 17 years old. Also,20 per cent of all juveniles arrested are girls — all were involved in theft cases.

While various factors contribute to this trend,the police mainly attribute it to the living conditions of these children — most of them live in colonies and slums. The maximum number of cases involving juveniles are reported from Sector 17 and Manimajra.

“The arrested juveniles have to be handled with great sensitivity. Parents should ensure that their child is following the right path. On our part,we keep calling parents of these children and advise them to give maximum time to them,” UT SSP S S Srivastava said.

Chandigarh-based psychologist Dr Ashok Gupta said,“Parental neglect,narcotic addiction,boredom,unemployment,influence of Bollywood potboilers,love-revenges,poverty and easy accessibility to alcohol triggers children to commit crimes.”

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