Harsh punishment not the answer8217;

Depending on the crime, the range of punishment could be: the delinquent is reprimanded and allowed to go home; given to the custody of parents on execution of a bond; released on supervision of a competent authority; imposed a fine or committed to a home. At the Juvenile Court at the Observation Home at Dongri, where cases of delinquent juveniles 8211; as the law terms lawbreakers below the age of 16 8211; land up, the maximum punishment a delinquent could get for as serious a crime as murder is being committed to an institution. For, as remand home officials point out, the person on trial is an undeveloped mass8217; which cannot be subjected to harsh adult-style punishment. 8220;This is no court8217; as such. Punishment does not rectify a person, and we can only direct corrective measures,8221; says V K Sharma, Juvenile Magistrate.

A combination of circumstances 8211; high school dropout rates, a consumerist me-too culture, an absence of traditional, effective means of social control and nuclear families istriggering off crime among the youngest sections of society, say social workers. 8220;Why is juvenile delinquency largely an urban phenomenon? After all, in rural areas, the communities are more well-knit which makes it more difficult for the individual to break the norm,8221; said Vijay Raghavan, a social worker with Prayas, a non-governmental organisation that works with young adults in jails. 8220;In one instance, a woman brought her son to the Deonar police station and asked the police officer to slap him to make him behave. This is the extent to which social control has broken down.8221;

Adding economic compulsion to the crime roster makes house breaking and theft the crime for which the maximum number of cases against children are registered. Sharma also points to the predicament that arises when dry law which stipulates deterrent runs smack into rude reality. 8220;For instance, there8217;s this 12-year-old ragpicker who has been accused of stealing a policeman8217;s uniform and belt. What do I do? Do I commit her to sevenyears to reform her? Or should I let her go so that she can feed her two younger siblings and her mother?8221;

V C Nemade, Deputy Superintendent of the Dongri observation home cautions that there are very few cases where a child is born criminal8217;. 8220;The fact that the child is detained itself is punishment enough. When juvenile offenders are brought here, they are kept separate from the other destitute children.8221;

Nemade conceded that the number of children taking to serious crimes like murder has increased. 8220;What has also changed is the nature of the child8217;s involvement: while earlier, children would merely be in the vicinity of the crime or would be accomplices to it, these days, they are directly involved in severe assault cases. Often, they are put up to it by adults,8221; he pointed out.

Shivaji Kamble8217;s case will now come up for hearing on September 27. Dongri8217;s most famous inmate at the moment resolutely repeats what he told the police as well as the juvenile magistrate: I am innocent. It was hermother that did it. I don8217;t know why I have been accused. I will walk free.

On the day of the incident, Sunita8217;s mother had a fight with the mother of a neighbour, Santosh. I was witness to that for about half-an-hour, after which I went to see a Ganpati puja nearby,8221; Shivaji told Express Newsline. 8220;When I returned at around 12.30 am, I was told that the police had taken my parents for questioning, and that I had been charged with murdering Sunita.8221; A shocked society may have already passed its verdict, but it will take more than just value judgements to address the issue of juvenile crime and punishment.