AMOD KANTH

Like every concerned citizen of a civilised society, I am worried about the increase in juvenile crime, both nationally and globally. It is all the more disturbing to me because I find the Indian police unable to cope with the increase. Our organisation, Prayas, deals with a huge number of children involved in crime.

There are several obvious reasons for the rise, which transcends socio-economic boundaries. Besides poverty, ignorance, breakdown of traditional values and the tendency to defy norms, one major factor contributing to teenage crime is something very crucial, which is being missed by most agencies. Behind every adult crime and serious juvenile crime, there is invariably a track record of petty crime that has gone unchecked.

The growing phenomenon of teenage violence may i nclude delinquent aggression, petty revolts and stone-pelting to heinous crimes such as murder, rape, riots and even taking to arms as insurgents and participating in ‘fidayeen’ attacks. The phenomenon is called juveniles in conflict with law within the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act 2015.

They are to be given differential treatment under Indian law despite the emotion-driven 2015 changes in the juvenile justice act which permit children in the 16-to-18 age group to be tried as adults. The change came about