NCW chief says juvenile age should be lowered to 16

Mamta Sharma said she endorses the need to lower the age of juveniles from 18 to 16 years.

Citing the increase in the number of juveniles allegedly accused of committing sexual crimes, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Mamta Sharma Wednesday said she endorses the need to lower the age of juveniles from 18 to 16 years under the Juvenile Justice Act.

“This is a debatable issue and the matter should be looked into considering both psychological and legal side. But if you see the crime data, 45% of rape cases registered have juveniles as accused. With changing sociological situations, laws need to be amended. The age of juveniles under the JJ Act should be lowered to 16 years,” Sharma said.

To back her stand, she gave the example of the December 16 Delhi gangrape case. “The juvenile accused in the case was the most brutal. Just based on school certificate, he was let off,” she said.

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On Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan’s comments against sex education, Sharma said, “Information technology has contributed so much that nothing can be hidden. Sex education should be imparted in schools.”

The NCW chief also slammed TMC MP Tapas Paul’s rape remarks as “shameful”. “It is also shocking how a women CM gave 48 hours to reply. He should not have been given even 48 minutes,” Sharma said.

On the Supreme Court order restraining police officials from making automatic arrests in dowry harassment cases, Sharma said she disagreed that the anti-dowry law is being misused.

Kaunain Sheriff M

Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies. With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health. His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award. Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time. Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More

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