Juvenile Justice Bill
The Juvenile Justice Bill was passed in the upper house of the parliament yesterday. Many seem to be happy while others not so.
Let's first see what this bill actually is. The bill is mainly a Care and Protection of Children. The main highlight of this act is it brings down the age of a juvenile to 16. That is now on, person whose age is in between 16 and 18, and who commits a heinous crime, would be treated as an adult in the Indian Court of Law.
In addition, it defines the eligibility of adoptive parents and the procedure for adoption. Also, the penalties to be faced in any case of child neglect.
The main reason of hue and cry over this act currently is why the age is being reduced? Let's first think in these lines - "What is a heinous crime?"
Well, in my terms heinous crime is anything intentionally done which could hurt someone physically to the extent of getting very ill, enter a vegetative state or in the worst case, death. Any crime where one is fully aware of the tortures to the victim is a heinous crime. Murder, Rape, Dowry are all flagitious crimes according to me.
Now getting back to the point, the Rajya Sabha passing the Juvenile Act yesterday. I see no harm. Why? You might argue a 16 year old is not sensible enough. But then if accused in a crime like rape or murder, is the accused really behaving like a child? Is the person a child just because of the age or due to the thoughts and behaviours? Why is it said and believed in the Indian society that "Girls mature faster than boys of the same age"? Ain't the age factor into consideration then? Or is the society so biased, that we want the girls to act and be matured? And give all the freedom to the boys to do whatever they want? And just term their act as 'childish'!!
Or when a 16 year old child in the family can plan someone's murder, then where is all the 'innocence' gone? A child should not be planning out someone's murder. At 16, we were discussing mathematics. Not planning some crime!
If over exposure to the electronic media is responsible for this, then what are we doing as parents? Things have changed, society have changed. The generations have changed. And we must agree, the 16 year olds of an era back cannot be compared to the 16 year olds of today. Be it personal life, the school life or the friends, they are simply way ahead of their peers of two generations back. Why a 16 year old, my two and half year old can use a laptop and mobile much more efficiently then me! So we are just not comparable. 14 years down the line, I cannot tell her "At your age I was doing this and this"!!!
I believe, the age is appropriately put in. It mentions clearly heinous crimes. I am sure if a 16 year old steals a Rs. 100 or plays a innocent prank on someone, the court would not send him/her to jail. In such cases they would always be treated as juvenile. May we do not have to see any harsh statements in future. Let's try and nourish our next generations with love and hope our kids turn out good.
God bless!
Let's first see what this bill actually is. The bill is mainly a Care and Protection of Children. The main highlight of this act is it brings down the age of a juvenile to 16. That is now on, person whose age is in between 16 and 18, and who commits a heinous crime, would be treated as an adult in the Indian Court of Law.
In addition, it defines the eligibility of adoptive parents and the procedure for adoption. Also, the penalties to be faced in any case of child neglect.
The main reason of hue and cry over this act currently is why the age is being reduced? Let's first think in these lines - "What is a heinous crime?"
Well, in my terms heinous crime is anything intentionally done which could hurt someone physically to the extent of getting very ill, enter a vegetative state or in the worst case, death. Any crime where one is fully aware of the tortures to the victim is a heinous crime. Murder, Rape, Dowry are all flagitious crimes according to me.
Now getting back to the point, the Rajya Sabha passing the Juvenile Act yesterday. I see no harm. Why? You might argue a 16 year old is not sensible enough. But then if accused in a crime like rape or murder, is the accused really behaving like a child? Is the person a child just because of the age or due to the thoughts and behaviours? Why is it said and believed in the Indian society that "Girls mature faster than boys of the same age"? Ain't the age factor into consideration then? Or is the society so biased, that we want the girls to act and be matured? And give all the freedom to the boys to do whatever they want? And just term their act as 'childish'!!
Or when a 16 year old child in the family can plan someone's murder, then where is all the 'innocence' gone? A child should not be planning out someone's murder. At 16, we were discussing mathematics. Not planning some crime!
If over exposure to the electronic media is responsible for this, then what are we doing as parents? Things have changed, society have changed. The generations have changed. And we must agree, the 16 year olds of an era back cannot be compared to the 16 year olds of today. Be it personal life, the school life or the friends, they are simply way ahead of their peers of two generations back. Why a 16 year old, my two and half year old can use a laptop and mobile much more efficiently then me! So we are just not comparable. 14 years down the line, I cannot tell her "At your age I was doing this and this"!!!
I believe, the age is appropriately put in. It mentions clearly heinous crimes. I am sure if a 16 year old steals a Rs. 100 or plays a innocent prank on someone, the court would not send him/her to jail. In such cases they would always be treated as juvenile. May we do not have to see any harsh statements in future. Let's try and nourish our next generations with love and hope our kids turn out good.
God bless!
Age cannot be a liberty factor for such a brutal crime. Strict consequences, irrespective of age,that force the offender to fear before committing the act are required. Someone who has committed such a barbaric act cannot be called immatured. But unfortunately we are too tied with the rule book that even the obvious is ignored and criminals roam free.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. That's what my point is exactly. But let's really hope this bill proves to safeguard the innocent and punish the guilty.
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