CHAPTER - Three

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN INDIA AND KARNATAKA

3.1 Introduction

In the present chapter an attempt is made to present the details about the

emerging trends and patterns of juvenile delinquency in India as well as in Karnataka, the

study area of present enquiry. As we all have understood, delinquency trend in India, like

in global scenario as pointed out in earlier context, has been changing now-a-days. The

passing of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2000 is a land

mark in the criminal Justice administration in India. Earlier, if a boy of below 16 years or

girl of below 18 years commits an offence, he or she was called a juvenile delinquent.

But after commencement of J.J.Act of 2000 a boy of below 18 years or a girl of below

18 years commit an offence they shall be considered as juvenile in conflict with law, that

is juvenile offender . Not only the conceptual framework for the word "delinquent" has

changed, but also the size, pattern and the rate of the delinquency has also been changing.

The number of the juvenile in conflict with law in India, that is juvenile delinquency as

traditionally called, is decreasing in rural areas and in district places. The delinquency

rate is also clearly finding downward swing in recent years. But at the capital places like

Bangalore and other mega cities in India it is little increasing. But in Karnataka

Delinquency rate is decreasing a bit. Not only in Karnataka in India but in larger context

of the world too is delinquency rate decreasing due to various factors.

The Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 prescribes minimum age at 7 years and maximum age at

18 years for delinquents of both sexes which in a way help in avoiding some confusion

what had prevailed in identifying a child delinquents saws sex (gender). By definition of

the Act all those who are under 18 when committed a crime are called juvenile delinquent

or child criminal, and the Act is child crime, being treated specially and separately as per

the provision of JJ Act of 2000.

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3.2 Juvenile Delinquency: A Global Phenomenon

Juvenile Delinquency has become a cause of social concern all over the world. It is

mentioned in the earlier sections that delinquency an universal phenomenon, in the sense

that it is found in all human groups. Perhaps there is no society with having a pause as far

as misbehavior or crime by individuals, more so among the younger ones that is children.

The nature of human behavior is such that violation of standards of behavior or actions

are sometimes hardly kept intact, in tune with that of norms, regulations, code of conduct,

values etc. of the society. The problem of human misbehavior has been observed and felt

throughout human world and at all levels of strata. However, the causation of

delinquency, nature and extent of juvenile delinquency, genesis of delinquency, forms of

delinquency and patterns of delinquency vary from time to time, place to place and well

with in a community, society, region and national society etc. The dynamics of juvenile

delinquency is very interesting to be considered for enquiry to understand analytically

and to develop accounts about the changing pattern of behavior as well as misbehavior

among people, more specifically among children which is a new development which has

come about with the changing social, economic, political and cultural arrangements in

human groups due to rapid industrialization and urbanization all most over the world.

There are considerable variations in the socio- cultural, economic and

psychological bases of causation of juvenile delinquency across the societies in the

world. The economic growth trends as well as levels and the changing pattern of human

behavior are quite observable. With the changing economic structure, as viewed in

Marxian perspective, there would be change in the socio-cultural arrangements leading to

inconsistent behavioral pattern among people during such transitional times. Changes in

basic constitutional arrangements like in the family, are quite expected due to economic

upheavals. Industrial way of life, that is industrialism, crept into the 20th century society

in Europe and Northern America. The changes in their economy lead to changes in every

way those societies had been obtained earlier. Though industrialism was not a sudden

development, it emerged as a resultant effect of mechanized production system due to

scientific and technological innovations that were successfully followed in the western

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societies. The overall changes in those societies could be seen in the rapid transitional

growth of communities into the modern typical industrial- urban ones.

To suit the ongoing changes, the regulative institutions like law, police, judicial

administration also changed drastically. The laws governing deviant behavior among

children as well as adults have also undergone a drastic change. The handling of

misbehaving individuals has got developed into a highly civilized one and lot of changes

to the existing laws have also been affected in this background. Infact the new

conceptualization of "Juvenile in conflict with law" enacted recently in Indian legal

system in place of the old concept of "juvenile delinquent" has been one such illustration

for the sophistication of labeling misbehaving children which has been borrowed from

the west. Misbehavior among Children has changed in its content, tenor, orientation,

approach, method as well as in its handling too. A change in the family life has its direct

impact on misbehavior among children. Lack of love and carelessness, growing

phenomena of individualism at all levels of social life, loose neighborhood relations,

association of bad guys increasing incidence of intolerance among children, impact of

media like cinema, television etc., and access to arms and ammunitions have all in some

permutation combination influence children in their behavioral aspects. What we have

learnt from media these days is that the children getting in to easy way of life and for the

purpose of which they force themselves to commit economic offences like shop lifting,

pick pocketing, stealing goods from wherever and however possible. There is also

increasing scale of sex offences among children which is a dangerous development in

modern society. The girls getting into these kind of offences are becoming conspicuous

Drug and alcohol have demoralized the children and adults who have been into them. In

fact they are often starters in the long criminal career of children and adults. Emotional

disturbance has often been manifested in their criminal tendencies. The psychological

basis of crime has been very well documented in the context of different socio-cultural

situations. Juvenile delinquency is a common problem every where. How societies

conceptualize it is the thing which matters most for the fact that delinquent behavior is a

defined behavior. Only when a child is defined delinquent he is delinquent, otherwise not.

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However, each society has its own standards of measurement of behavior. India is no

exception to that.

3.3 Causes of Juvenile Delinquency in India

As we have already learnt there is no single cause or simple explanation

provided for the development of delinquent behavior. According to Healy and Bronner ,

the causes of juvenile delinquency are quite wide ranging covering from the (1) bad

company, (2) adolescent instability and impulses, (3) early sex experience,(4) mental

conflicts, (5) extreme social suggestibility, (6) love of adventure, (7) motion picture, (8)

school dissatisfaction, (9) poor recreation, (10) street life, (11) vocational dissatisfaction,

(12) sudden impulse: and (13) physical condition of all sorts.

The factors of causation of juvenile delinquency could be broadly classified under two

major head as (a) Social factors, and (b) Personal factors. The social factors of causation

of juvenile delinquency are broken homes, poverty, delinquency area companions and

gangs , beggary ,school learning dissatisfaction , films and phornographic literature, deep

seated inner desires etc . The personal or individual factors of causation of delinquency

among children are mental deficiency, emotional problems etc. The details are provided

in following paragraphs.

Broken Homes: British and American investigations reveal that nearly 50% of the

delinquents come from broken homes. In one of the studies conducted by Uday Shankar

in India only 13.3% of the 140 delinquents that he studied came from broken homes- (1¬

34). This shows the cultural differences between Indian and the Western countries. Still it

can be said that broken homes and families, lack of parental affection and security,

absence of a loving mother in the childhood or an affectionate mother substitute, lack of

family ties, parental irresponsibility and a steep rate in divorce, desertion and separation

are all contributory factors to delinquency.

The home may be broken up by death of one or both of the parents or by prolonged

illness or insanity, desertion or divorce. Interaction in home is a very important means for

socializing the child. The mother plays vital role in this regard. If she divorces her

husband or deserts him or dies, the growth of the child will be affected. Such a child loses

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not only mother's love but also parental control and becomes an easy victim to the

outside anti-societal influence. It cannot, however, be said that broken home invariably

leads to delinquent behavior on the part of children.

Poverty: A very large proportion of delinquent children come from poor homes. It

is generally, although not accepted by professional students of juvenile delinquency, the

vast majority of delinquents come from the lower class. They commit their offences as

member of gangs. Uday Shankar's study has revealed that as many as 83% of the

children come from poor families still it cannot be generalized that the children of the

poor homes invariably become delinquents.

Poverty compels sometimes both of the parents to be outside the home for a very

long period to earn their daily bread. The children will be uncared for. Such children may

consciously or unconsciously join hands with gangsters and become delinquents. This

mostly happens in slum areas and areas in which mostly working class people live.

Delinquency Areas: It is said that some areas are highly vulnerable to delinquent

trends. Several studies have showed that there are certain underclass areas in

metropolitan cities from where the majority of delinquent children come. The delinquents

mostly come from the areas of poor housing, overcrowding and the areas in which

cinema houses, hotels, night clubs, liquor shops are found in a large number. It is true that

when a family is living in the central business districts or its adjacent locales in towns a

cities the chance is greater for the children of such families to pick up delinquent

behavior. It is to be noted here that not all the children living in the so called defined

delinquent areas are delinquents.

Companions and Gangs: As the child grows older he or she goes into the

neighborhood and becomes a member of the playgroup or peer group. If by chance he

joins the group or the gang that fosters delinquent attitudes he is also likely to become a

delinquent. In fact much delinquency spring up from the prevalent attitudes in the groups

within which the youth has immediate contacts. That is why it is maintained that

"delinquency is a product of community forces".

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In cities, particularly in slum areas, very peculiar social groups called 'gangs' are

found. Generally the gangster is a playgroup. In the absence of playground facilities, the

children will start playing in street and finally organize themselves into gangs. The gang

has all the qualities of an in group such as loyalty, co-operation, social solidarity and

unity. These gangs are found to be associated with crime in all its aspects like

delinquency, rioting, corrupt politics, and so on. Children coming from poor families and

broken families easily become the victims of gangs.

Due to bad companionship also offences are committed by the adolescents. Studies

have shown that delinquent acts are done in company. Several surveys have showed that

there were hundreds and thousands of boys involved in crime. It is largely found that in

most such surveys the crime committed was only in group of boys\girls of two or more.

In Uday Shankar's study in India about 23% of persons committed delinquent acts due to

bad company. It cannot, however, be presumed that more companionship by itself causes

delinquency.

Beggary: Beggary is often the cause of juvenile delinquency. Child beggars mostly

come from either very poor families or broken homes. These children are betrayed of the

needed love and affection of the parents. They crave for the satisfaction of their inner

impulses, desires and ambitions. They choose to become beggars for the same. As

beggars they get annoyed to see others enjoying life. Some of them may even become

rebels. They realize that only through deviant practices, they can satisfy their desires and

meet their needs. They thus become delinquents.

School Dissatisfaction. Some get dissatisfied with school life. Parental irresponsibility,

unmanageable students- teacher ratio, lack of entertainment and sports facilities in

schools, indifference of the teachers may all contribute to this. Such dissatisfied students

become regular absentees in schools and start wandering in streets. They may even form

gangs of their own and become gamblers, eve-teasers, pick-pocketers, drunkards,

smokers and drug addicts.

Films and Pornographic Literature has also added to the magnitude of delinquency.

Cinema, television and obscene literature may often provoke sexual and other impulses in

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adolescents. Hence they may start their 'adventure' in satisfying them and in the process

of which they commit crimes.

Deep-seated inner desires coupled with outside pressures, compulsions and temptations

also contribute to juvenile delinquency. For example, on hearing the interesting narration

of the illicit sex experience or such other criminal experience from one's gang mate, one

may tempted to follow the same.

There are also personal factors such as mental deficiency and emotional

disturbances which may also contribute to juvenile delinquency. It has been observed that

good number of delinquents are mentally deficient have revealed that there is larger

proportions of mentally defective in the juvenile delinquent group than among the normal

children. The relationship between intelligence and delinquent behavior has been studied

carefully. The average intelligence in a normal group of children is 100 (Intelligence

Quotient).Some studies from Europe have shown that the average I.Q. of delinquent

children is 85 while in an Indian study Uday Shankar found that it was 83. These and

many other studies have revealed that the average intelligence of the juvenile delinquents

is certainly lower than the average intelligence of the normal group of children of the

same age. Such children are often used by the more intelligent children of the gang or the

adults for their criminal purpose.

Mental troubles and emotional maladjustments are strong factors in delinquency

.Emotional problems of inferiority, jealous and being thwarted are very common among

the delinquent children. Healy and Bronner in the study of 143 delinquents found that

92% of the delinquent studied revealed emotional disturbance. It is reported that in

America about two- thirds of juvenile delinquents suffer from emotional, personality and

mental deviations. Thus from the psychological point of view "Delinquency is a rebellion

and an expression of aggression which is aimed at destroying breaking down or changing

the environment". This rebellion is mostly against the social conditions which deny the

individual his basic rights and the satisfaction of his fundamental needs. Thus,

delinquents are not born so, but they become so due to social circumstances and personal

deficiencies. They are mostly maladjusted person.

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According to psychoanalytic view, the delinquent is an individual who is

governed by the "pleasure principle". He wants to get immediate pleasure and immediate

satisfaction for his needs. So he becomes a victim to his own impulses. He is neither able

to control his impulses nor able to imagine to think the consequence of his action. It is

also said that delinquent breakdown is an escape from emotional situation for some

particular individuals with peculiar individual and family background. Some emotionally

maladjusted children become delinquents to get the attention of their parents or as a

protest against their treatment.

Thus it may be said that juvenile delinquency is the result of both social or

environmental and personal or individual factors of causation of it.

T he above mentioned factors of causation of delinquency have become common

aspects in crime committed by the children in India. To treat such individuals committing

delinquency, there are different methods adopted while the important ones are from

preventive purpose. The other is rehabilitative nature. The details of these methods are

discussed in brief in this chapter.

3.4 Remedies for Juvenile Delinquency

The problem of juvenile delinquency is one that has drawn the attention of Indian

society also. It is known that the delinquent child today may turn out to be a chronic

criminal tomorrow. Discussions, debates and studies have been made at the national as

well as international levels by scholars to seek out effective remedy for this problem.

Two methods have been suggested to deal with this problem: (A) preventive method, and

(B) rehabilitative or curative method. In the former, factors leading to delinquency,

delinquent children are to be helped to become normal citizens.

In order to prevent juvenile delinquency from its occurrence the following

measures have been suggested:

V Creating and inspiring a team of work of private and public agencies

devoted to preventive work.

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V Giving proper training to the members and staff of all organizations

concerned with delinquency control.

V Establishing child guidance clinics to give appropriate treatment to the

disturbed and mal-adjusted children.

V Educating of the family so as to help the parents to realize the importance

of giving proper attention to the needs of their young children.

V Establishing wholesome recreational agencies to prevent young children

from becoming the victims of illicit or unwholesome recreation.

V Giving proper assistance to under-privileged children to build in them

good character and law-abiding attitude.

V Adopting various means of propaganda such as radio, movies, television,

newspapers, magazines, etc., to realize the importance of law abidingness

and how it is always appreciated and rewarded.

V Improving the social environment -slum areas, busy market places,

gambling centers, etc., to prevent children to get polluted.

V Spotting potential delinquents by predictive tests in schools and giving

appropriated treatment to such children.

V The problem of beggary and poverty are to be removed or controlled and

the general economic standards of the people must be increased to prevent

children from becoming- delinquent due to economic exigencies.

T he children who become criminal for whatever reason better known and

whatever conditions under which they committed crime need to be rehabilitated.

Punishment is no measure and legally too it is not allowed. A suitable way (s) in which

they could be rehabilitated is thought of in this connection.

The main purpose of the method of rehabilitation is neither to punish nor to take

upon the delinquent. The intention behind this method is to help the delinquent children

to get proper guidance and training so that they become normal children and never repeat

delinquent acts. The measures taken for the prevention and treatment of juvenile

delinquency in India after are briefly examined here:

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There are several legal measures that have been thought of and brought to practice

in India. Various legislations have been made in India from time to time to deal with

juvenile delinquency. Some of them are mentioned here. They are as presented in the

following paragraphs.

(a) Apprentices Act of 1850: This Act has been the earliest step in India taken in

the direction of preventing delinquency. The Act provides for the binding of children,

both boys and girls, between the ages of 10 to 18 as apprentices. Orphans and poor

children could take the benefit of this Act. Employers could take such children as

apprentices with the intention of training them in some trade, craft or employment by

which they gain a livelihood later. The father or guardian may bind a child above 10 and

under 18 up to 21 years of age for a period not exceeding 7 years. A female child may be

so bound until her marriage. The Act also dealt with children who committed petty

offences.

(b) Reformatory Schools Act of 1897: This Act be considered a landmark in the

history of treatment of delinquency in India. This Act is in force in almost all the states of

India. Under this Act, courts were empowered to send for detention youthful male

offenders to Reformatory school for a period of not more than three years. It could be

extended to seven years depending each of delinquent case. No person may be detained

in it after he attains the 18 th year of age. In conformity with this Act the state

Governments may establish and maintain Reformatory schools. Every school to must

provide sanitary arrangements, water supply, food, clothing, bedding, industrial training

and medical aid to the inmates. These Reformatory Schools are reported to have done

useful work.

(c) Provision in the Criminal Procedure Code: Under Section 399 of the

Indian Criminal Procedure Code (ICPC) convicted young offender below the age of 15

could be sent to Reformatory Schools established by the State Government. Section 562

of the C.P.C. also permitted discharge of certain convicted offenders on probation. It also

permitted their release with advice. Under Section 82 of the Indian Penal Code children

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under seven cannot be held responsible for their criminal acts. Section 83 of the Code

relaxes this age up to 12 under some conditions.

(d) Children Acts: During colonial rule in India, various provinces of India took

interest in making some comprehensive laws in 1920 and afterwards to deal with

delinquent children. Of these, children Acts enacted by Madras in 1920 and followed by

other States, are more important. The main provisions of children Act are as follows:

(1) No child under 14 years of age can be imprisoned under any circumstances

and no young person between 14-16 years of age can be imprisoned unless he is certified

to be an unruly person;

(2) Except in the case of grave offences any person arrested on a charge and is

below 16, is required to be released or bailed. In any case such person could not be kept

in jails;

(3) The child or youthful offender cannot be sentenced to death or imprisonment

except under extra- ordinary conditions. Persons below 12 are to be sent to Junior

Certified Schools and 12 to 16 Senior Certified Schools; and

(4) The court may discharge the person after due admonition, it may hand him

over to his parents or guardians after taking a bond from them that they would be

responsible for his good behavior for 12 months.

(5) Juvenile Smoking Acts: Some Acts to deal with the specific pattern of

antisocial behavior among children have also been passed. Of these the juvenile Smoking

Acts are in force in most of the states. This Act prohibits the sale of tobacco by children

of below 16 years of age. Children of below 16 years age are no supposed to smoke in

public places according to this Act (But these Acts were never enforced in any of the

States)

(6) Suppression of Immoral Traffic Acts (SITA). These Acts are passed in order

to protect young girls and to suppress prostitution. The Acts prohibit certain practices

connected with prostitution such as soliciting in public places using residential premises

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for running brothels, forcibly detaining young women in brothels, etc. provisions are also

made to protect girls from brothels or from moral danger.

(7) Probation of Offenders Act. Under these Acts Juvenile Courts can place the

youthful offenders under the supervision of probation officers.

(8) Borstal Schools Acts for Adolescents: These acts were passed to give a special

treatment for adolescent offenders, that is, offenders between 15 and 21 year of age. A

Borstal School is a corrective institution and is one in which the offenders are subject to

disciplinary and moral influences. These influences would help their reform.

3.5 Institutions to Rehabilitate Juvenile Delinquents

Preventive measure alone is not enough. Rehabilitative or reformative measures

are also needed to solve juvenile delinquency. Some of the institutions aimed at

rehabilitating the juvenile delinquents are there in India which may be briefly examined

here.

Juvenile Courts: Juvenile Courts are established in order to treat separately juvenile

delinquents form other adult criminals. Juvenile Courts have their own building, judicial

bench and other arrangements. Juvenile delinquents cannot be tried in ordinary courts.

Whenever the juvenile courts are not there they could however be tried in other courts but

on a separate day and at a fixed time so as to keep them separately from other adult

criminals. Juvenile offenders cannot be chained and they cannot be produced to the courts

by the police in their uniform. No advocates are needed to plead for them. The main

intention behind this special treatment is to create positive feelings in the minds of

juveniles.

Remand Homes (Observation Homes): When a child is arrested under the Act, he is

produced before the magistrate within 24 hours and kept in Remand Home till the case is

investigated. The child is kept in Remand Home until the final disposal of the case.

Sometimes person convicted are sent to Remand Homes for a few days and released later.

These homes are mostly managed by private Welfare agencies with the governmental

assistance.

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Certified Schools: Certified Schools are established mainly to give some general

education and technical training to the children. Here the children are sent for long-term

treatment. They are run by voluntary bodies or local authorities with the financial

assistance of the government and the public. There are two types of schools: (i) junior

Schools for boys under 12, and (ii) Senior Schools for boys under 16. The children are

confined here about 2 to 3 years. They school authorities can also make early discharge.

After their release they are put under the charge of a Welfare or probation officer who

watches their activities.

Auxiliary Homes: These Auxiliary Homes are attached to Certified Schools just like

remand homes. Here the convicted delinquents are kept for some time and studied by a

social worker. Later on they are sent to certified schools depending upon and attitude of

the young offender.

Foster Homes. Foster Homes are mostly run by the voluntary agencies and the

government gives grants to. They are specially created for delinquent children under 19

who cannot be sent to approved or certified schools.

Reformatory Schools:

In states where are no Children Acts, Reformatory Schools are established. They

are meant for the education and vocational training of delinquent children. The young

convicted offenders below 15 years are detained here for 3 to 7 years. The delinquents are

removed from bad social environments through these schools.

Borstal Institutions: Under Borstal system special treatment is provided for adolescent

offenders between the ages of 15 to 21 years. Borstal institutions are of two types :(i)

open type and (ii) closed type. Open institution is a camp in the open country with no

surrounding wall. Closed institution is a converted prison building in which maximum

security is given to inmates. Though it is called 'closed' institution most of its activities

meant for children are carried on outside the building.

Young offenders are very often sent to Borstal institution for rehabilitation rather

than kept under imprisonment. The term of Borstal is 2 to 3 years and in any case it

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should not exceed 5 years. If the offenders are found to be unruly and incorrigible they

are sent to jails. Separate arrangement is there to give training to boys and girls. The

training, physical exercises and education that are given here are very tough so as to

prevent the inmates from committing offences again.

Fit Person Institutions and uncared children institutions: These are the two non¬

government institutions managed by private bodies and philanthropists. These institutions

give refuge and protection to the destitute, neglected children, children in the pre-

delinquent stage, and to the delinquent children. Such children and their activities are

supervised by the appointed officers.

In the backdrop of this understanding of the general causative factors of juvenile

delinquency legal frameworks and methods and approaches for treatment of young

offenders in India, we shall move on to know and understand the trends and patterns of

juvenile delinquency in India as well as in Karnataka in the following sections .

3.6 Trends of juvenile delinquency in India

India has been a very traditional society where informal means of control have

worked very well in regulating behavior of people of all ages, caste, sex and other

typological categories. The customs, traditions, mores, values, norms developed and

adhered to locally as well as universally in Indian society by people across groups and

places have all had helped maintain low crime and delinquency incidence for generation

and centuries. Religion played a vital role as an agent of social control. There were no

formal rules and regulations, police, court until the advent of British Rule in India.

However, the kind of informal surveillance system that was developed and sustained

served society in a better way for generations and centuries. The community level

juridical system contributed its might in regulating human conduct locally and helped

maintain order. Industrialization, urbanization, modernization, growth of population,

dwindling natural resources, have all lead to a kind of new situation where some sections

started getting deprived of basic facilities to settle down and experience better living

arrangements. This leads to a kind of expression on their part by deviating the expected

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informal standards of behavior has got developed in the recent past. The inter-cultural,

social, economic, religious and political variation in different areas had never helped in

evolving uniform codes of conduct for people to observe in different social situations. As

such there were not clear standards of behavior developed by state or society and while

they are kept violated by one or the other sections for one or the other reasons.

Juvenile delinquency, like crime, in socially defined, culturally interpreted,

economically measured and politically punished. This in the sense that different

dimensions of it needs to be taken into account while it being empirically investigated.

We are trying to consider at the national level as to what has happened and happening

now as far as human conduct is concerned. Particularly with the persons up to the age of

18 years who are in legal as well as social considerations are children or juveniles. As

children they are supposed to be under strict control of parents , relatives , neighborhood,

community, etc. but where situations encourages and warrants they turned to be violating

standards of behavior as fixed by the community\ society leading to be called juvenile

delinquents within the ambit of legal frameworks . In the present analysis only those

children who are defined delinquents in the eyes of legal standards are taken into account.

Possibly there could be many whose delinquent behavior may not have been brought

under the legal provisions and recorded by the authority or agencies of the state either

intentionally or unintentionally. Possibly there could be lot of violations of standards of

behavior carried out by children in villages and other unnoticeable areas which goes

without being recorded. For this reason, the facts and figures that are made available

through the records of the state agencies are limited but in a way provide a basis for our

understanding the nature, extent and variations in the context of changing residential and

regional and sub regional situations. In the present inquiry, an attempt is made to take in

to considerations of the statistical details recorded by the state agencies regarding the

crime incidences conducted by children which serve a basis for understanding the trends

and patterns of delinquent behavior in our society.

In the beginning, we shall take into consideration of the statistical details

regarding the various types of crimes committed by the children in different state areas in

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India in the beginning of 21 s t century. i.e. the year 2001 -2002. The details have been

culled out from the statistical abstracts 2002 of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation Government of India. The details for various types of delinquent acts of

children as recorded by the agencies of the state, are given in the following table 4.1

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Table 3.1 The State and Union Territory wise Distribution of Juvenile Delinquency in India, 2002

State/Uts/ City

Murder

Culpable homi¬

cide not amounting to murder

Rape

Kidnapp¬ing and abduc¬

tion

Da-coity

Robb­ery

Burg­lary Theft Riots

Criminal breach of trust

Cheat­ing

Coun¬ter

feiting

Other IPC

crimes

Total cogniz­

able crimes

State 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Andhra Pradesh 12 1 22 3 - 2 118 280 18 - 1 - 249 706

Arunachal Pradesh - 1 1 2 - 3 12 23 4 - - - 38 84

Assam 4 - 3 - 1 3 38 90 16 - 1 - 51 207 Bihar 11 1 8 8 6 5 69 213 92 14 6 - 222 655 Goa - - - - - - 11 6 2 - - - 3 22

Gujarat 16 - 1 22 4 5 94 220 42 2 2 - 450 858 Haryana 9 1 7 5 1 2 33 47 29 4 4 - 201 343

Himchal Pradesh 1 - 2 - - - 7 2 8 - - - 16 36

Jammu & Kashmir - - - - - - - - - - - -

Karnataka 14 - - - - 1 43 84 20 - 2 - 78 242 Kerala 2 - 1 - - - 7 19 4 - - - 8 41

Madhya Pradesh 87 16 86 19 9 32 311 382 80 1 1 11 - 1647 2681 Maharashtra 71 1 23 11 8 17 225 476 92 2 | 6 2 707 1641

Manipur - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Meghalaya - 1 1 - - - 7 12 - - - - - 21 Mizoram 1 - 2 - - - 9 9 - - - - 10 31 Nagaland 1 - - - - - 1 3 - - - - 3 8

Orissa 4 1 6 1 - 2 29 89 1 1 - - 34 168 Punjab 1 - - 1 - - 3 1 - - - - 10 16

Rajasthan 14 1 16 4 - 1 84 89 113 - 1 - 357 680 Sikkim - - - - - - 2 4 - - - - 3 9

Tamil Nadu 5 - 1 - 3 - 57 179 4 - 1 - 45 295 Tripura - - - - - - 2 3 - - - 3 8

Uttar Pradesh 5 3 9 2 - - 9 14 - - - - 30 72 West Bengal - - - - - - 1 18 - - - - 68 87

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

1 - - - 1 - - - - 4 6

Chandigarh - - - - - - 6 16 1 - - - 13 36 Dadra and Nagar

Haveli - - - - - - - - - - -

Daman & Diu - - - - - - - - 1 - - - 1 2 Delhi 8 - 9 5 1 6 62 102 1 - 2 1 102 299

Lakshadweep - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Pondicherry - - - - - - 3 7 1 - - - 2 13

Total 266 27 195 83 33 79 1238 2381 531 24 | 37 03 4355 9267

Source: compiled from the statistics released by: selected socio-economic statistics, central statistical

organization, Ministry of statistics and programme implementation, Govt. of India, New Delhi, 2006.

17

From the above table 3.1 we may observe that the number of cases of delinquency for

different objectionable acts of behavior among children in different state areas vary

considerably and also the type of delinquents being pronounced in predominant or subtle

numbers in different areas in India. This is only to speak of variations which are quite

obvious in the varying context of cultural, social, economic and political situations in

India and what influences do they have on child behavior. Of the 14 crimes recorded for

child misconduct burglary and thefts appear common all over and also in more numbers

indicating the economic purpose of criminal intent. That is poverty or need for

subsistence to be obtained from illegal means (acts) seem prime consideration in the

causation of this type of economic offences by children. These criminal conducts are

recorded under the provisions of the Indian penal code (IPC) and the Local and Special

Laws (LSL). Again when we look through the details in the table 4.1, it may be found

that it is in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Gujarat from

where more number of Juveniles indentified for violating behavioral standards by

conducting burglary and thefts. Child riots are reported in more numbers from Rajasthan,

Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.

The details in the table 3.1 reveal the variations in term of number of

juvenile delinquency reported. Suppose we take total number of cognizable crimes by

children in to account and see as to from which states such crimes or reported in more

numbers, it is Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan

have recorded more while Sikkim, Nagaland, Tripura, Punjab, Goa, and Himachal

Pradesh having recorded less numbers. The state like Uttar Pradesh West Bengal,

reporting less only to imply that there could be some variations in the provisions followed

for booking cases against such children for their miss conduct. Among the centrally

administered territories, Delhi had recorded the highest numbers while Daman Diu and

Andaman and Nicobar areas had recorded less. In a way the details provide the juvenile

Delinquency scenario in India immediately after the new act, Juvenile Justice Act 2000,

coming in to being.

The details in the table 3.1 provide a statistical abstract of delinquency incidence

by the child population in the country in the year 2001-2002. Going by the details in table

18

there were in all 9252 criminal acts registered for various crimes under IPC and LSL. It

has already been noted that the number of crimes committed by children vary from year

to year as there were changes due to local situations, changes in legal provision, and also

the kind of changes taking place in the socio economic cultural fabrics of the society.

Such changes are taking place so fast and so frequently that there would be alterations in

the arrangements due to influences from outside as well as the changes within due to

increasing standard of education. Changes in the attitudes and perception of the people

(psychological changes) and the changes in the material culture and living arrangements

what people can find for themselves in this fast globalizing era are also contributing

factors. The details in the table 3.1 provide the juvenile delinquency status in the country

which has found alterations considerably over the years. Indeed the details for this

changing situation of occurrence of juvenile delinquency in the country which reveals the

trends and patterns in it. If at all we can notice them from the statistics available which

are provided in the table 3.2 below. The details in the table reveal the drastic decline in

the incidence of child crimes in India. We shall take up the details for child crimes

recorded under the provision of special and local laws in the country. It is very

interesting to note from the details in the table that the incidence of child crime has

come down considerably under these SLL provisions.

19

Table 3.2 Number of Juvenile Delinquency under SLL cases in India, 1971 to 2011

Year Arms Act

Narcotic Drugs

and Psycho. Substa­nces Act

Gamb­ling Act

Excise Act

Prohi¬bition Act

Explosive & Explosive

Substances Act

Immoral Traffic (Prev¬ention Act)

Indian Railways

Act

Other Crimes Total

1971 237 163 16244 3193 38369 95 1617 16099 66743 142760 1981 7602 407 22429 4661 25654 168 1855 4393 41077 108246 1986 1182 569 10919 1988 15390 39 1090 3642 43924 78743 1987 1071 475 11854 2546 22660 311 1102 5069 40081 85169 1988 268 56 4125 971 8632 78 406 228 10704 25468 1991 169 43 1477 369 2841 13 283 16 16932 22143 1992 96 20 828 135 1385 13 95 15 4945 7532 1993 100 13 818 127 1161 2 128 6 4844 7199 1994 115 33 363 106 663 3 47 5 4627 5962 1995 56 26 240 182 732 5 50 7 3957 5255 1996 44 34 363 378 1282 2 104 16 3496 5719 1997 101 11 97 212 152 1 83 26 3725 4408 1998 45 18 277 123 1313 - 227 15 3989 6007 1999 40 9 113 75 733 7 75 105 4412 5569 2000 35 16 131 113 519 2 82 78 4178 5154 2001 154 52 763 613 1007 3 125 26 5589 8332 2002 162 56 675 526 930 10 49 81 6274 8981 2003 232 62 863 508 1117 9 48 110 4692 7867 2004 201 54 989 480 566 8 47 28 3383 5756 2005 192 76 1061 472 830 9 50 0 3972 6662 2006 280 65 1116 556 632 3 79 11 2504 5246 2007 322 80 1013 556 510 8 60 0 2207 4756 2008 265 70 779 374 408 7 33 6 1603 3545 2009 223 61 1149 465 592 16 18 2 1795 4321 2010 154 82 326 249 314 13 10 2 1408 2558 2011 159 78 424 198 313 11 15 2 1637 2837

Abbr.: SLL: Special and Local Laws.

Note: As per revised definition of Juvenile Justice Act 2000, the boys in the age

group 16-18 years have also been considered as Juveniles.

Source: Ministry of Home Affairs &Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation, Govt. of India. (ON315)

The above table 3.2 contains statistically details about various criminal acts

conducted by children in the country during 40 years from 1971 to 2011. These acts were

registered under the provision of different acts that have been in vogue from time to time.

The general trend what it is established in considerable decline in the incidence of child

20

crimes under various provision of various special and local laws (SLL). With the increase

in the age of male juvenile Delinquents from 16 to 18 years in the JJ Act 2000, the

number of such registered cases increased suddenly and again there was decline in their

numbers. The 1970s and 1980s the two decadal periods, had been considerable number of

registration of child criminal cases in India under the provisions of SLL.

The 1970s and 1980s was the time in India when lot of new initiatives for

development were taken up by the governments under five year economic plans and also

the period when considerable political developments too were taking place. Internal

political rivalry, formation of new political outfits with a orientation of formation of new

statehoods on local considerations on the lines of ethnic considerations, industrialization,

urbanization, migratory movements to city and to outside Indian destinations, all have

had their implications to family and child rearing. The economy particularly with urban

orientation started growing considerably during this time. Lot of social, economic and

cultural upheavals that started gaining shape had their own implications to the delinquent

attitude among people in the society, more particularly the younger ones.

The details in table 3.2 above refer only to such recorded deviant actions of

children considered only under the special and local laws. The criminal acts of children

registered under the IPC outnumber those registered under the SLL. The details of such

criminal cases registered under IPC are given in table 3.3 below which reveal a sort of

upward trend when they are considered independently and also in comparison with

crimes committed by adults. The details are available in comparison to the existing

population for each year from 1998 till 2012 and also rate of juvenile crime is estimated

for each year. The details are given in the following table 3.3

21

Table: 3.3 Incidences and Rate of Juvenile Delinquency under IPC Crime in India

(1998 to2012)

Year

Incidence of % age of

Juvenile

Crimes to

Total

Crimes

Estimated

Mid Year

Population*

(In Lakh)

Rate of

Crime by

Juveniles

Year Juvenile

Crimes

Total

Cognizable

Crimes

% age of

Juvenile

Crimes to

Total

Crimes

Estimated

Mid Year

Population*

(In Lakh)

Rate of

Crime by

Juveniles

1998 9352 1778815 0.5 9709 1.0

1999 8888 1764629 0.5 9866 0.9

2000 9267 1771084 0.5 10021 0.9

2001 ** 16509 1769308 0.9 10270 1.6

2002 18560 1780330 1.0 10506 1.8

2003 17819 1716120 1.0 10682 1.7

2004 19229 1832015 1.0 10856 1.8

2005 18939 1822602 1.0 11028 1.7

2006 21088 1878293 1.1 11198 1.9

2007 22865 1989673 1.1 11366 2.0

2008 24535 2093379 1.2 11531 2.1

2009 23926 2121345 1.1 11694 2.0

2010 22740 2224831 1.0 11858 1.9

2011 ## 25125 2325575 1.1 12102 2.1

2012 27936 2387188 1.2 12134 2.3

Note: *: The Registrar General of India.

**: Actual population as per 2001 Census.

#: The boy's age group of 16-18 years has also been considered as

Juveniles since 2001 onwards as per revised definition of Juvenile Justice Act.

##: Actual Census-2011 Population (Provisional).

Source: Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. (ON346)

From the table 4.3 above we may notice that the juvenile crimes under IPC

provisions have been increasing along the increasing number of crimes by adults

implying that total crime incidence is increasing consistently contrary to our belief that

the juvenile crime is decreasing in incidence and magnitude in the country. The rate of

22

juvenile crimes has increased by about one time during 1998 to 2012 as the details in the

above table reveal. This is something very strange to find that while juvenile crime under

SLL is decreasing, under IPC it is increasing. What type of crimes are the crimes of the

kind committed and under what provisions, and sub- provisions of the IPC are given in

the following table 3.4 which provide a total picture of the type of crimes committed by

the juveniles and also what is the extent and pattern of juvenile crimes we get to know

from the details.

Table 3.4 Crime Head-Wise Number of Juvenile Delinquency IPC Cases in India (2011)

Crime Heads 2011 percentage Murder (Sec. 302 IPC) 888 2.74 Attempt to Commit Murder (Sec. 307 IPC) 642 1.98 C.H. not Amounting Murder (Sec. 304, 308 IPC) 51 0.15 Rape (Sec. 376 IPC) 1149 3.55 Custodial Rape 0 0 Other Rape 1149 3.55 Kidnapping and Abduction (Sec. 363-369, 371-373 IPC) 760 2.34 (i) Of Women and Girls 600 1.85 (ii) Of others 160 0.49 Dacoity (Sec. 395-398 IPC) 134 0.41 Preparation and Assembly for Dacoity (Sec. 399-402 IPC) 33 0.10 Robbery (Sec. 392-394, 397, 398 IPC) 639 1.97 Burglary (Sec. 449-452, 454, 455, 457-460 IPC) 2609 8.06 Theft (Sec. 379-382 IPC) 5320 16.44 (i) Auto Theft 1475 4.55 (ii) Other Theft 3845 11.88

Riots (Sec. 143-145, 147-151, 153, 153A, 153B, 157, 158, 160 IPC) 1347 4.16

Criminal Breach of Trust (Sec. 406-409 IPC) 24 0.07 Cheating (Sec. 419, 420 IPC) 161 0.49 Counterfeiting (Sec. 231-254, 489A-489D IPC) 20 0.06 Arson (Sec. 435, 436, 438 IPC) 93 0.28 Hurt (Sec. 323-333, 335-338 IPC) 4096 12.65 Dowry Deaths (Sec. 304B IPC) 93 0.28 Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC) 573 1.77 Sexual Harassment (Sec. 509 IPC) 168 0.51 Cruelty by Husband and Relatives (Sec. 498A IPC) 322 0.99 Importation of Girls (Sec. 366B IPC) 1 0.00 Death due to Negligence (304A IPC) 157 0.48 Other Ipc Crimes 5845 18.06 Total Cognizable Crimes under IPC 32354 100.00

Abbr.: IPC: Indian Penal Code. Note: As per revised definition of Juvenile Justice Act the boys age group of 16¬18 years has also been considered as Juveniles since 2001.

: Indicates infinite variation because of division by zero. : Indicates that the Crime Head was not introduced till that year.

Source: Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. (ON276)

23

The details from the above table 3.4 reveal that the economic crimes over 8000

reported cases are prominent in terms of they being committed for which the poverty is

the main reason. Also easy life as it has gained momentum among adolescents from the

urban underclass sections has made the young lads to commit crime of the nature. What

all different types of crimes the children commit is one thing that gets revealed from the

details in the table 3.4. There are over 30 types of registered crimes committed by the

children. The sex related crime (over 3000) has picked up among the young lads which is

a dangerous trend in a traditional society like ours. There were 2298 reported cases of

rapes alone conducted by children in 2011. Quarrel has picked up as another criminal

behavior. Dowry related and wife battering for dowry and other purposes seem

unbelievable at this age but yet it is a reality. Causing physical harm to others in riots,

and killing and murdering others for either rivalry, or and mostly mercenary gains got

established in Indian society too.

These crimes committed by children in India during 2011 have not uniformly

occurred all over but scattered in different tit bits in a vast geographical area. While in

certain state areas there were less number of juvenile crimes occurred, in certain other

states they were found to be very low. The details are given in the following table 3.5.

24

Table-3.5 State-wise Number of Juvenile Delinquency under Different

Crime Heads (IPC) in India - Part II (2011)

Prepa¬ration and

Assembly for Dacoity (Sec

Riots (Sec 143¬145, 147-151,

153,153A, 153B,157, 158,

Crimi-

Dacoity (Sec 395¬398 IPC)

Prepa¬ration and

Assembly for Dacoity (Sec

Robbery Burglary Theft (Sec 379-382 Riots (Sec 143¬145, 147-151,

153,153A, 153B,157, 158,

nal

States/UTs Dacoity

(Sec 395¬398 IPC)

Prepa¬ration and

Assembly for Dacoity (Sec

(Sec 392- (Sec 449-452, IPC)

Riots (Sec 143¬145, 147-151,

153,153A, 153B,157, 158,

Breach of States/UTs Dacoity

(Sec 395¬398 IPC)

Prepa¬ration and

Assembly for Dacoity (Sec 394, 397, 454, 455, 457

Riots (Sec 143¬145, 147-151,

153,153A, 153B,157, 158,

Trust (Sec

Dacoity (Sec 395¬398 IPC)

399 - 402 IPC) 398 IPC) - 460 IPC) Total Auto

Theft Other Theft

160 IPC) 406 -409 IPC)

Andaman and Nicobar 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 Islands Andhra 3 0 22 229 646 152 494 23 1 Pradesh 3 0 22 229 646 152 494 23 1

Arunachal 0 0 1 18 26 3 23 0 0 Pradesh 0 0 1 18 26 3 23 0 0

Assam 0 0 9 67 121 3 118 7 0 Bihar 9 2 49 18 109 37 72 248 0 Chandigarh 1 0 12 9 19 6 13 4 0 Chhattisgarh 12 0 25 384 311 55 256 85 1 Dadra and

0 0 0 1 3 3 0 1 0 Nagar Haveli 0 0 0 1 3 3 0 1 0

Daman and 0 0 4 3 0 0 0 6 0 Diu

0 0 4 3 0 0 0 6 0

Delhi 1 1 64 31 259 110 149 0 1 Goa 0 0 1 21 33 18 15 1 0 Gujarat 15 2 42 206 343 118 225 117 1 Haryana 2 3 5 65 124 51 73 38 3 Himachal 0 0 0 29 44 15 29 16 0 Pradesh 0 0 0 29 44 15 29 16 0

Jammu and 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 Kashmir 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0

Jharkhand 4 0 2 3 25 4 21 30 0 Karnataka 4 0 6 51 43 8 35 14 0 Kerala 4 1 20 74 89 35 54 102 0 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Madhya 8 4 59 287 427 99 328 108 1 Pradesh 8 4 59 287 427 99 328 108 1

Maharashtra 48 14 176 571 1256 378 878 442 8 Manipur 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Meghalaya 3 0 8 8 32 2 30 0 0 Mizoram 0 0 0 12 18 0 18 0 0 Nagaland 0 0 2 6 7 0 7 0 0 Odisha 8 0 17 73 106 3 103 6 0 Puducherry 1 1 0 4 14 4 10 0 0 Punjab 0 2 5 8 43 4 39 0 2 Rajasthan 1 3 46 205 349 154 195 18 1 Sikkim 0 0 0 8 22 1 21 0 0 Tamil Nadu 3 0 30 154 499 188 311 40 0 Tripura 0 0 0 0 9 1 8 2 0 Uttar Pradesh 3 0 32 51 223 16 207 23 4 Uttarakhand 0 0 0 10 20 5 15 0 0 West Bengal 4 0 2 0 98 2 96 14 1 India 134 3 3 639 2609 5320 1475 3845 1347 24

Source: Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. (ON276)

25

Table.3.5 continued..State-wise Number of Juveni le Del inquency under Different Cr ime Heads (IPC) in India - Part I (2011)

States/UTs

Murder (Sec 302

IPC)

Atte¬mpt to

Commit Murder

(Sec 307

IPC)

C. H. Not

Amoun¬ting to Murder

(Sec 304,308

IPC)

Rape (Sec 376 IPC) Kidnapping and

Abduction (Sec 363 -369, 371 - 373 IPC)

States/UTs

Murder (Sec 302

IPC)

Atte¬mpt to

Commit Murder

(Sec 307

IPC)

C. H. Not

Amoun¬ting to Murder

(Sec 304,308

IPC)

Total Custo­

dial Others Total

of Women

and Girls

of Others

Total

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 8

Andhra Pradesh

64 34 5 59 0 59 55 25 30 1091

Arunachal Pradesh

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 72

Assam 16 1 0 34 0 34 44 33 11 498

Bihar 46 76 1 17 0 17 51 29 22 803

Chandigarh 5 7 0 1 0 1 5 4 1 88

Chhattisgarh 57 39 0 80 0 80 14 14 0 1289

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10

Daman and Diu

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13

Delhi 37 24 0 47 0 47 30 25 5 831

Goa 4 1 0 3 0 3 1 1 0 102

Gujarat 43 20 1 16 0 16 50 45 5 1265

Haryana 15 15 0 18 0 18 17 14 3 464

Himachal Pradesh

4 2 0 9 0 9 4 4 0 165

Jammu and Kashmir

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6

Jharkhand 6 1 1 16 0 16 35 24 11 199

Karnataka 26 8 0 18 0 18 39 36 3 309

Kerala 12 7 1 21 0 21 6 6 0 453

Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Madhya Pradesh

112 127 4 271 0 271 106 105 1 2318

Maharashtra 145 135 5 125 0 125 50 36 14 4433

Manipur 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Meghalaya 10 0 0 20 0 20 1 0 1 135

Mizoram 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 54

Nagaland 2 0 0 5 0 5 3 0 3 40

Odisha 19 7 0 44 0 44 13 10 3 456

Puducherry 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 39

Punjab 11 5 3 8 0 8 6 2 4 150

Rajasthan 71 65 3 79 0 79 59 49 10 1387

Sikkim 1 0 0 3 0 3 1 1 0 61

Tamil Nadu 45 33 1 14 0 14 9 8 1 1350

Tripura 7 0 0 12 0 12 0 0 0 51

Uttar Pradesh 81 24 23 146 0 146 74 66 8 1127

Uttarakhand 2 1 1 5 0 5 9 6 3 82

West Bengal 41 5 2 74 0 74 78 57 21 569

India 888 642 51 1149 0 1149 760 600 160 19918

Source: Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. (ON276)

26

The above table 3.5 provides details about various types of crimes committed by

children as registered under IPC provisions by the authorities concerned in different

regional areas in the country. The regional variations can be seen in the context of size of

each of state and centrally administered territory. It is clear from the details in the table

4.5 that a bigger state has larger number of child crime registered and smaller states

having registered very smaller numbers driving a point home that larger the state higher

the incidence of juvenile delinquency and smaller the state lower the incidence of child

crime. Geographically size of a state need not to have this kind of a phenomenon set but

obviously the physical and demographic size have their contributions to criminal

tendency for there could be difficulties arising in regulating by keeping close watch on

people due to size problem. The state in India also has not been able to gear them to

develop police and the judiciary matching the size of geographical area and demographic

size. Besides these, possibly the larger size criminal tendencies are developed in the wake

of economic problems the people have to their credits. It in this context people develop

an attitude of 'some how' make a living in threatening to the law and order problem in

such societies. It is clear from the details in table 4.5 that larger size state like Madhya

Pradesh, Rajasthan Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Chattisgad

have recorded higher incidence of child crimes. Among these the traditional backward

states Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have larger share of child

crime incidences. Maharashtra being more industrialized and consequently urbanized has

seen within its context higher incidence of child crimes recorded under different

provisions of the existing laws.

The child crimes are committed not only by boys but also by girls. The gender

wise distribution of child delinquent activities for the period from 1971 to 2004, not only

provide a picture of magnitude of girls delinquent tendency but also give an idea about

the trends of girls delinquent activities in India over the years in recent past. The details

are given in the flowing table 3.6

27

Table: 3.6 Gender Wise Distributions of Juvenile Delinquents in India from 1971 to 2004

Year Delinquents (IPC+LSL)

(In Thousands) % of Girls to Total

Rate of Incidence of Crime* per

Boys Girls Total

% of Girls to Total Lakh Population

1971 98.0 5.4 103.4 5.3 4.9 1972 121.0 7.2 128.2 5.6 5.6 1973 122.2 5.6 127.8 4.3 6.4 1974 132.1 8.5 140.6 6.1 6.9 1975 132.6 9.3 141.9 6.6 6.6 1976 124.6 9.4 134.0 7.0 6.0 1977 138.5 10.4 148.9 7.0 7.0 1978 151.2 9.7 160.9 6.0 6.9 1979 160.3 9.7 170.0 5.7 7.1 1980 178.1 9.5 187.6 5.0 8.3 1981 181.9 8.7 190.6 4.6 8.9 1982 157.6 10.7 168.3 6.3 8.4 1983 160.5 11.1 171.6 6.5 7.7 1984 149.8 12.5 162.3 7.7 5.8 1985 157.1 11.4 168.5 6.8 6.6 1986 160.0 10.1 170.1 6.0 7.3 1987 166.4 13.6 180.0 7.5 6.7 1988 33.1 5.1 38.2 13.4 3.1 1989 24.8 11.6 36.4 31.9 2.3 1990 25.3 5.5 30.8 18.0 1.8 1991 23.2 6.4 29.6 21.6 1.5 1992 17.4 3.9 21.3 18.2 1.3 1993 16.4 3 . 7 20.1 18.3 1.1 1994 13.9 3.4 17.3 19.5 1.0 1995 14.5 4.3 18.8 22.6 1.1 1996 14.1 5.0 19.1 26.3 1.1 1997 14.3 3 . 5 17.8 19.7 0.8 1998 14.0 5.0 19.0 26.2 1.0 1999 13.1 5.4 18.5 29.1 0.9 2000 13.9 4.1 18.0 23.0 0.9 2001c 31.3 2.3 33.6 6.9 1.6 2002c 33.6 2.2 35.8 6.2 1.8 2003 31.0 2.3 33.3 7.0 1.7 2004 28.9 2.1 31.0 6.7 1.8

Source: Ministry of home affairs, government of India, New Delhi.

It is clear from the details in the above table 3.6 that the girls are no better when it comes

to their criminal attitudes and acts. The child criminal cases were registered under

28

provisions of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Local and Special Laws (LSL). The detail

indicates that girls have their due share of crime increasing consistently from 1971 to

2000 and declined suddenly from 2001. It is historically proved that the women did have

their participation in criminal acts either individually or in group. In fact women were

used in different clandestine activates like espionage, murder, thefts etc. all though

historical times indicting their active participation in this kind of activates too. If we go

by the incidence of crime per lakh population as given in the table 3.6, 1970s and 1980s

was a prime time and ripe period in the criminal history of Indian society for such

activates which started declining in 1990s and thereafter. On an average about one in

every four child crimes is committed by girls accounting for roughly about 20 to 25

percent. This is quite alarming in a traditional society like ours where girl child is

protected and provided for all its needs by parents and other relatives. She is also pushed

into criminal acts mostly under duress or compulsions by the vested interests of both

male and female types.

The delinquency has been considered as urban phenomenon in the sense that it is

only in the towns and cities where due to anonymity and also other living conditions

people develop the tendency of committing crime unless otherwise it is conducted out of

necessity of saving a life under threat. The bigger size cities are the preferred centers for

cognizable and incorrigible crimes conducted. For children to committee crime in cities,

it is easier by bunking school, or joining with other criminals to indulge in such activities.

The details available for child crimes in metropolitan cities in India provide us the

scenario of urban juvenile delinquency. The details are presented in table 3.7 below

29

Table: 3.7 City Wise Distribution of Juvenile Delinquency in India 2002

Cri

State/Uts/ City

Murd er

Culpable homi- Kidnapp

ing and abduc¬

tion

Da­coity

Rob Burg­lary

Thef t

Rio ts

min al Chea

Cou n-

Othe r Total

cogniz­able

crimes

State/Uts/ City

Murd er cide not

amounting to murder

Rape

Kidnapp ing and abduc¬

tion

Da­coity b-

ery

Burg­lary

Thef t

Rio ts brea

ch of

trust

t¬ing

ter feiti ng

IPC crim es

Total cogniz­

able crimes

City 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Ahmadabad 1 - - 2 - - 31 72 3 - - - 27 136 Bangalore 2 - - - 1 12 46 - - - - 12 73

Bhopal - - - - - - - - - - - - -Chennai - - - - - - 4 8 - - 1 - 8 21

Coimbatore _ - - - - 4 8 - - - - - 12 Delhi 8 9 5 - 6 62 102 1 - 2 1 103 299

Hyderabad - - - - 1 - 20 122 - - - - - 153 Indore 4 - 2 2 - 2 5 22 - - - - 110 147 Jaipur - - - - - - 22 3 - - - 11 60

Kanpur - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Kochi - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - 1

Kolkata - - - - - - 1 1 - - - - - 2 Lucknow - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - 4 Ludhiana - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Madurai - - - - 6 3 14 16 5 - - - 13 57 Mumbai 5 - 3 - - 7 29 74 1 - 1 - 72 192 Nagpur 2 - 1 - - 2 37 31 2 - - - 26 101 Patna - 1 - - 2 - 6 2 - 2 - 16 29 Pune - - 2 - - - 16 44 2 - 1 2 12 79 Surat - - - 1 - 1 2 14 2 - - - 10 30

Vadodara 2 - - - - - 6 12 2 - - - 32 54 Varanasi - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Vishakhapatnam - - - - - - 13 5 3 - - - - 6 72

Source: ministry of home affairs government of India, 2002

The details in the above table 3.7 reveal that the size of a community has something to do

with the incidence of crime and delinquency. The table 3.7 reveals the child crimes in

selected metropolitan cites in India implying a larger size city like Ahmadabad, Delhi,

Indore, Mumbai, Nagpur having seen good number of child crime incidence in their

contexts. Delhi and Mumbai, being very large megacities have recorded 299 and 192

child crimes in one particular year. Of these most of the crimes committed relate to

30

robbery and theft conducted for the economic reasons. In most of the cities the child

crime committed refers to largely the economic ones. This is due to poverty prevalence

among the poor migrants in city who would have shifted to city looking for better

chances to eke out a good living which otherwise go difficult for the reason of very high

cost of living and as a result they hardly succeed in improving their economy. The

perennial poverty in which the migrant families situate themselves encourage children to

venture out for easy prays and once they into it the be in it forever.

3.7 Juvenile Delinquency in Karnataka

Karnataka is a state located in the peninsular part of India with having good natural

resources and a population with developmental orientations .It is moderately

industrialized and also urbanized. A l l round development in the state, particularly

education, transportation and communication, health infrastructure, water supply and

sanitation, information technology, tourism, etc. is quite visible in the state. Migration of

people is quite observed which has resulted into steady urban growth in the state.

Karnataka is 5 t h biggest urbanized state in the country. Bangalore the capital of the state

is also the financial, industrial, educational, cultural and political capital of the state.

There is a huge concentration of human activities in Bangalore city which have made the

city the 5 t h mega city in the country, which is also known for crime activities of

underground nature etc. Indeed the city tops the recorded cases of juvenile delinquency.

Before we take up the details for child crime in different regions (cities) in the state, we

would like to present the juvenile delinquency scenario in the state under different legal

provisions that have been in vogue in the following. The details presented in the table no.

4.5 reveal the juvenile delinquency scenario in country. In the year 2011, there were

about 309 cases of child delinquency recorded under different legal provisions in the state

as per the records of Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. However, going by the

inmates numbers in different observation homes in Karnataka, for the same year (2010¬

2011) there were about 1017 inmates as the details in table 3.8 reveal. It is quite likely

that all of them may not have been considered delinquents as they would be waiting for

the decision of the authority about their act of guilt.

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Table: 3.8

Juvenile Delinquents or Juveniles in Conflict with Law according to J.J Act of 2000

Sl.

No Place

2000¬

2001

2001¬

2002

2002¬

2003

2003¬

2004

2004¬

2005

2005¬

2006

2006¬

2007

2007¬

2008

2008¬

2009

2009¬

2010

2010¬

2011

2011¬2012

1 Bangalore 105 83 82 164 236 230 305 312 314 317 321 323

2 Dharwad 79 77 77 126 108 135 179 77 70 68 66 61

3 Mangalore 120 83 70 96 16 125 94 41 31 50 53 58

4 Bijapur 51 52 55 32 29 29 31 72 70 25 15 12

5 Bellary 150 166 124 110 31 16 04 68 66 58 55 53

6 Shimoga 128 152 124 87 31 103 110 115 92 85 82 78

7 Mysore 110 94 110 100 105 100 76 109 102 112 117 121

8 Gulbarga 80 82 75 90 85 92 91 85 79 75 68 65

9 Belgaum 100 102 150 170 165 171 175 182 230 235 240 242

Total 923 891 867 975 806 1001 1065 1061 1054 1025 1017 1013

Source: Dept. of Women and Child Development, Government of Karnataka Bangalore.

Trends of Juvenile Delinquency in India in general and Karnataka in particular have

changed in the recent years as statistical details in the foregoing tables reveal. In rural

area and in small district places delinquency is decreasing. But in metropolitan cities like

Bangalore delinquency is little increasing. In big districts like Belgaum it is increasing.

But in overall Karnataka delinquency rate is decreasing. In 2006-2007, 1065 delinquency

were there. But in 2008-2009 it was 1054. So delinquency is decreasing in Karnataka bit-

by-bit. There are many reasons for decreasing delinquency rates. Standard of life is

becoming good in Karnataka. In Schools Bisi Uta (Delicious Food) is introduced.

Because of Bisi Uta poor children rush to Schools these days. So that crime automatically

decreasing. The main reason for delinquency is poverty. When poor children are going to

32

school because of Bisi Uta, so the poor Children stopped to commit offences. Many

government developmental schemes and programmes have helped increase people's

standard of life. So child crime rate is decreasing slowly and steadily. In the backdrop of

consideration of the child crime scenario in India as well as in Karnataka, we shall move

on to consider the juvenile delinquents in Karnataka for developing a profile and also to

examine the source of such an act which blemish them socially and also otherwise.

33