Hridaya – Nest
of Family Harmony
Hridaya offers rehabilitation & extends support for education to Juvenile in Nirbhaya Case
Now the air has been cleared by SC verdict not to
stall the release of juvenile , Hridaya believes that the Juvenile deserves a second
chance to rehabilitate . The case in hand got extreme views from scores of
society demanding capital punishment / juvenile to be treated as an adult and penalized
accordingly.
However this is not one of case where a juvenile
has committed a crime , as per Juvenile
Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 (amended in 2006). Under
this act and provisions of the Criminal Code Procedure children are given a differential treatment for the purpose
of socio-legal rehabilitation and reformation not punishment. For the same very
reason the Juvenile in the case in hand has been send to a reformatory for 3
years.
The hype in the said case has created extreme
hatred towards the boy and stirred sentiments are pushing the debate for
lowering the age bar for a juvenile from 18 to 16 , Whether it’s a heinous crime
or not the adolescent lured to crime are largely observed, belonging to social
backard or lower class strata , which lacks basic amenities of shelter food
& education. ILO Study also has highlighted
in various occasions about deteriorating state of youth turned to child labor. These
child laborer are marginalized under extreme work environment & are forced
to crime to make ends meet.
The amendment in juvenile bill has been cleared by
lok sabha & awaiting clearance from upper house . If the common
understanding is Juvenile above age group have matured enough to distinguish between
a crime & a noble act. Then the voting rights & marriageable age too
should be brought down to 16. If not then the Juvenile Justice amendment bill
deserves to be scrapped prima facie.
The punitive aspect of law & harsh punishment
had never been deterrent in reduction of crime , the same is visible in the
reporting of various crime against women post Nirbahaya incident. The need is
to create an environment of opportunity where young minds are ignited for prosperity
of state not gullied by crime.
Moreover treating juvenile same as dreaded criminals
will itself defeat the purpose of reformation & rehabilitation of
juveniles. Under the proximity of criminals in all possibilities the youngsters
might face physical & sexual abuse, as well as unduly get exposed to criminal
master mind closing all ways of their restoration in main frame of society.
The custodian of young adolescent National Commission
of Women & Delhi commission of women are pioneering the demand of lowering
the age group for the Juveniles , lead by women & Child welfare ministry.
The same ministry is also responsible for Child Welfare as well , which has
been skewd towards welfare of girl child alone . WCD has conveniently ignored
that it owes a responsibility towards male child as well.
Hridaya also demands separation of women ministry from
child as well , Since the conflict of interest in WCD ministry skews its
prerogative towards women, the girl child gets all the focus and attention
where male child are facing deprivation of resources & are forced to take
up crime The need of hour is not “Beti Bachao beti padhao” but “ Bachoo ko
padhao Bachoo ko bachao” .
The Constitution of India warrantees a criminal act
can not be penalized twice under section 20. Since the law provision for
reformation & bringing back the people who have completed their tenure of
punishment in main stream, with this spirit of law, Hirdaya extends to support
the rehabilitation of the Juvenile.
We look forward to extend educational support to
juvenile for next 5 years, considering his interest in various stream of education
we wish he could gain a degree in law & help men in distress. We are
writing a letter to the chairman of Juvenile Justice board with this reference.
The members of NGO have also created online petition
to refrain from making any further changes in juvenile law. The
petition has been signed by 100s of people. The petition pleads to PMO to take
a pragmatic stand & address the issues of male child & and bias
treatment to wards male child in government schemes .
Online Petition
Hridaya is an NGO that works under
the umbrella of Save Indian Family which is a registered,
non-funded, non-profit, Non-Government Organization (NGO) headquartered at Kolkatta,
which engages itself primarily in: Mens Right & Family Welfare
Shri
D. S. Rao( President )
Email:
- dsraosif@yahoo.co.in