Journalism of Courage
AS MANY as 177 juveniles have been apprehended for sexual offences like rape, sodomy and other sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the last seven years, the reply to RTI application filed by the Indian Express has revealed. The information procured stated that majority of juveniles were apprehended for committing rape in the police sub divisions of South West and North-East in Chandigarh. The information procured was about juveniles apprehended between January 1, 2015, and July 31, 2022. A total of 1,026 juveniles have been apprehended in the last seven years.
Five out of the 177 were apprehended in connection with a single FIR and were later convicted by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), said the RTI. “The apprehension of underage on rape charges along with POCSO Act suggests that in all of these cases, the victims were minors too. The feedback shows that in 92 per cent of the cases, the apprehended juveniles were known to the victims,” a senior police officer said.
The reply also stated that in one of the rape cases registered in May, 2022, at Sector 49 police station, the victim turned out to be a minor during her bone ossification test. The test is conducted to ascertain the age of an individual. Following the test result, sections of the POCSO Act were added in the FIR against two of the accused who were adults.
A close scrutiny of the reply suggests though 18 juveniles were apprehended for using fake registration number plates on stolen vehicles, not a single juvenile was apprehended for committing cheating or forgery. Meanwhile, 14 of 18 juveniles apprehended for using fake registration number plates were convicted, three were acquitted and one juvenile is still facing trial before the JJB.
