AIDWA welcomes the decision referring the proposal for amending the Juvenile Justice Act to a Select Committee. In the wake of the controversy about lowering the juvenile age, this will allow for a larger discussion of a contentious issue.
However, AIDWA notes with concern that several misguided adolescents are participating in criminal activities, including serious sexual crimes, as observed in the Nirbhaya case.
While we are opposed to knee jerk amendments to the law in response to spontaneous reactions against juvenile perpetrators of violent crimes, who are eligible to be let off after 3 years as per the current clauses of the JJ Act, we also feel that some steps must be taken to ensure women’s safety as also better rehabilitation of offending juveniles.
We therefore demand that an appropriate, rehabilitation oriented monitoring and counselling procedure be put in place immediately, for juveniles who have been convicted for aggravated sexual assault or other serious crimes. Such a measure must be adopted in the context of the impending release of the juvenile accused in the Nirbhaya case as well.
