If the boy involved in the brutal gangrape of a Delhi woman on a moving bus three years ago walks out in a few days a free man (he became an adult within a year of the crime), the law would have been upheld. However, if he does leave the observation home a totally free man it would symbolise the national failure caused by procrastination. Why is it that we are unable to decide anything in time, even in the light of such a traumatic experience? So paralysed are we that save for knee-jerk reactions to any emergent situation we are unable to arm ourselves with laws to prevent such events recurring. The Justice J.S. Verma Committee suggested many changes to the juvenile laws and some were incorporated in an October 2013 ordinance. Even so, it has taken too long to get our act together on the need for a permanent change in laws to deal with juveniles who commit serious crimes like rape, murder and acts of terror.
Three years have passed since the woman died a victim of the bestial nature of five men and a boy. Only if the Delhi High Court comes out with an order on how the juvenile, who has become an adult, will be watched from now to know if he has reformed will the women of India gain some reassurance that such “animals” will not be allowed a free run of the land. The need to legislate prospectively to deter young people from a life of crime is immediate and our lethargy should give way for that to happen.
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