Minors involved in major crimes

UP No.1 in terms of culpable homicide, ranks No.3 in murders by juveniles: NCRB

LUCKNOW: If you thought that juveniles were only involved in petty crimes like theft, then think twice. They are also into heinous crimes like murder, rape and kidnapping, shows the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

In 2014, Uttar Pradesh ranked number one in the country with maximum number of cases of culpable homicide committed by juveniles. With 23 cases registered in this category, the state was followed by Telangana, where eight similar cases were reported.

With 111 murders by juveniles in the state in 2014, UP ranked third in this category of crime. Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh recorded 174 and 138 incidents respectively.

Kidnapping and abduction for the purpose of marriage by juveniles was also reported. There were 195 such cases in UP, making the state rank second in the country in this crime.

“It has been noticed that in many cases, minors are used by hardcore criminals to escape punishment. Juveniles are simply used to execute the crime. These criminals ensure that juveniles are released on bail immediately after the case against them is registered with the JJ board,” said Dinesh Pandey, former member of JJ Board. While crime by juveniles has been fairly high countrywide, the year’s data showed that recidivism - a person’s relapse into criminal behaviour - among juveniles came down drastically from 9.2% in 2013 to 5.4% in 2014. Of the total 48,230 juveniles arrested for various crimes in 2014, only 2,609 were repeat offenders, the lowest since 2007, as per the NCRB data.

Experts said poverty and illiteracy were common reasons behind crime by juveniles. In a large number of cases reported against juveniles, the children were either illiterate, school dropouts or were from poor families.