Opinion divided on freeing juvenile

While many cry foul over the judgment and are pushing for the juvenile age limit to be lowered to 16, there are those that think that if the law states that a juvenile involved in a rape will not by any means be tried as an adult then that law should be respected by society.

“Even the UN convention says that the age of a juvenile is 18, then we as a country should also follow that rule,” said Virgil D’Sami, the executive director of Arunodaya, a centre for street and working children. “I strongly believe that society has to be blamed for this incident, we as a society failed to prevent the juvenile from committing this crime. We did not provide him with guidance or education, after this proper rehabilitation and counseling will ensure a decent future for him,” she added.

Many child rights activists seconded this opinion also pointing out that the convict came from a difficult background and was probably sexual assaulted as a child too. “There is a good chance he was also molested or sexually assaulted as child and these things should be considered in the judgment. This is a chance for him to get back to a normal life,” said A. Narayanan, director, Change India.

Narayanan also added that there is no proof that he is the one to have committed most injuries, “Juvenile Justice trials are held in closed meetings so nobody outside knows what goes on,” he explained. Narayanan also gave examples of how another juvenile accused of stabbing his school teacher was let out after three months and is currently studying in college.

However, some question whether child rights are any different from women’s or human rights and if one should be prioritized over another. “Compulsory education is till 14 years, child labour limit is till 15 years then why is it that for criminals the age is higher. Especially for this case, the boy was fully aware of what he was doing, these days children have access to all kinds of materials and are more exposed than before. We just cannot accept this judgment it is very unfair to let such a person who indulged in such gruesome acts go free. It is a terrible example of justice,” said Renuka. B, co-ordinator of Centre for Women Development and Research.