A 14-year-old boy killed three women last month in Jahangirpuri over a loan of Rs 50. The incident came as a rude shock to police, lawmakers and residents as well.
The first victim was a 30-year-old woman who had loaned the boy Rs 50 and had informed about his mother about it. The boy stabbed her to death.
When another woman and her daughter tried to intervene, he killed them too. He was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and sent to an observation home.
In February, a teenager was held in east Delhi’s Jyoti Nagar for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old class 8 student of a government school. He wanted to take revenge after she turned down his attempts to start a relationship.
Such cases create a picture of children with an immense capacity to commit brutality. But visit an observation home, and you see their ‘innocent’ face as well.
“I never wanted to kill anyone. I just could not take the humiliation,” the boy who allegedly killed the three women told Deccan Herald during a brief interaction at the observation home.
Seeing him play cricket with other juveniles, it is hard to imagine that he had killed three persons.
However, incidents of minors committing serious crimes in the Capital are frequent, as the official figures show. The number of juveniles involved in heinous crimes like murder, attempt to murder, rape, kidnapping and robbery in Delhi has increased slightly in the last four years.
More juveniles commit crime
According to the National Crime Bureau records in 2010, 160 juveniles were involved in heinous crimes. In 2009, the figure was 157; in 2008, it was 122 children, and only 90 in 2007.
In 2010, the highest number of crimes by juveniles was theft — 81 cases. It was followed by 54 robbery cases, 44 causing hurt, 37 rape and 35 murder. A slight increase is noticed also in the number of children actually apprehended under different sections of the Indian Penal Code. While 627 kids were apprehended in 2010, 584 were held in 2009. In 2008, 520 kids were apprehended.
In 2010, the largest number of juveniles – 139 – were apprehended for theft followed by 93 for robbery, 55 murder and 40 rape. In that year, 20 boys in the age group of 7 to 12 years were apprehended, while as many as 275 were between the ages of 12 and 16 years. The maximum number of juveniles apprehended — 324 — belonged to the age group of 16 to 18 years.
In 2010, of the total number of juveniles apprehended, 169 were sent home after advice, 81 released on probation and placed under the care of parents or guardians, 178 sent to special homes, 27 acquitted and 156 cases are still pending.
Another classification shows that of all juveniles apprehended in 2010, 154 were found to be illiterate, 235 had gone to primary school, 204 attended middle school and 34 had done matriculation.
Of 627 juveniles detained in 2010, 504 were found to be living with their parents, 87 with guardians and 36 were homeless.
Treating them with care
What is worrying police and lawmakers is that an increasing number of juveniles are coming in conflict with law across the country. Child counsellors say such children need to be treated with care.
“They are not criminals. They children also need care and protection,” said Amod K Kanth, head of NGO Prayas and ex-chairperson of Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
Children commit crime because of neglect by parents, drug abuse, boredom, poverty and negative influence of movies. Some child rights groups have found a link between adolescent crime and family problems. “When these kids face or see financial problems at home, they turn towards crime,” said a senior police officer.
In 2010, the family income of 408 juveniles apprehended was below Rs 25,000 per annum, and 122 had a family income between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 per annum. The family income of 70 juveniles was between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh.
While 18 of them had an income of at least between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh, only six were found to have an annual family income above Rs 3 lakh. More vulnerable Children who have been exposed to violent behaviour from childhood at home, have been victim of abuse or have suffered emotionally stressful conditions in the family, are prone to committing crime.
According to senior police officials, lack of attention from parents can result in children taking the wrong path.
In their search for affection and satisfaction, adolescents often turn to drugs to fulfill their needs. Some take to violence.
Class no bar
But many young offenders also come from affluent families.
“Nowadays, even children from well-off middle-class and upper middle-class families are turning to crime,” said Jeevan Anmol, a social worker. Peer pressure and the thrill they get out of doing an illegal act are major reasons, according to him.
Child rights activists say good care and sound rehabilitation programmes will help affected kids keep themselves away from crime. They say such programmes are few in the country, and it is very difficult to maintain high quality in all of them.
“The need of the hour is to love children, nurture them and give them strength before it is too late,” said former child welfare committee member Randhir Kashap.
On the day Deccan Herald visited the observation home, a 16-year-old boy said, “Our parents barely manage three meals a day. I did not know that my act would bring shame on them. I will never do it again.”
The first victim was a 30-year-old woman who had loaned the boy Rs 50 and had informed about his mother about it. The boy stabbed her to death.
When another woman and her daughter tried to intervene, he killed them too. He was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and sent to an observation home.
In February, a teenager was held in east Delhi’s Jyoti Nagar for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old class 8 student of a government school. He wanted to take revenge after she turned down his attempts to start a relationship.
Such cases create a picture of children with an immense capacity to commit brutality. But visit an observation home, and you see their ‘innocent’ face as well.
“I never wanted to kill anyone. I just could not take the humiliation,” the boy who allegedly killed the three women told Deccan Herald during a brief interaction at the observation home.
Seeing him play cricket with other juveniles, it is hard to imagine that he had killed three persons.
However, incidents of minors committing serious crimes in the Capital are frequent, as the official figures show. The number of juveniles involved in heinous crimes like murder, attempt to murder, rape, kidnapping and robbery in Delhi has increased slightly in the last four years.
More juveniles commit crime
According to the National Crime Bureau records in 2010, 160 juveniles were involved in heinous crimes. In 2009, the figure was 157; in 2008, it was 122 children, and only 90 in 2007.
In 2010, the highest number of crimes by juveniles was theft — 81 cases. It was followed by 54 robbery cases, 44 causing hurt, 37 rape and 35 murder. A slight increase is noticed also in the number of children actually apprehended under different sections of the Indian Penal Code. While 627 kids were apprehended in 2010, 584 were held in 2009. In 2008, 520 kids were apprehended.
In 2010, the largest number of juveniles – 139 – were apprehended for theft followed by 93 for robbery, 55 murder and 40 rape. In that year, 20 boys in the age group of 7 to 12 years were apprehended, while as many as 275 were between the ages of 12 and 16 years. The maximum number of juveniles apprehended — 324 — belonged to the age group of 16 to 18 years.
In 2010, of the total number of juveniles apprehended, 169 were sent home after advice, 81 released on probation and placed under the care of parents or guardians, 178 sent to special homes, 27 acquitted and 156 cases are still pending.
Another classification shows that of all juveniles apprehended in 2010, 154 were found to be illiterate, 235 had gone to primary school, 204 attended middle school and 34 had done matriculation.
Of 627 juveniles detained in 2010, 504 were found to be living with their parents, 87 with guardians and 36 were homeless.
Treating them with care
What is worrying police and lawmakers is that an increasing number of juveniles are coming in conflict with law across the country. Child counsellors say such children need to be treated with care.
“They are not criminals. They children also need care and protection,” said Amod K Kanth, head of NGO Prayas and ex-chairperson of Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
Children commit crime because of neglect by parents, drug abuse, boredom, poverty and negative influence of movies. Some child rights groups have found a link between adolescent crime and family problems. “When these kids face or see financial problems at home, they turn towards crime,” said a senior police officer.
In 2010, the family income of 408 juveniles apprehended was below Rs 25,000 per annum, and 122 had a family income between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 per annum. The family income of 70 juveniles was between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh.
While 18 of them had an income of at least between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh, only six were found to have an annual family income above Rs 3 lakh. More vulnerable Children who have been exposed to violent behaviour from childhood at home, have been victim of abuse or have suffered emotionally stressful conditions in the family, are prone to committing crime.
According to senior police officials, lack of attention from parents can result in children taking the wrong path.
In their search for affection and satisfaction, adolescents often turn to drugs to fulfill their needs. Some take to violence.
Class no bar
But many young offenders also come from affluent families.
“Nowadays, even children from well-off middle-class and upper middle-class families are turning to crime,” said Jeevan Anmol, a social worker. Peer pressure and the thrill they get out of doing an illegal act are major reasons, according to him.
Child rights activists say good care and sound rehabilitation programmes will help affected kids keep themselves away from crime. They say such programmes are few in the country, and it is very difficult to maintain high quality in all of them.
“The need of the hour is to love children, nurture them and give them strength before it is too late,” said former child welfare committee member Randhir Kashap.
On the day Deccan Herald visited the observation home, a 16-year-old boy said, “Our parents barely manage three meals a day. I did not know that my act would bring shame on them. I will never do it again.”
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