The recent amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act which allows the trial of 16 to 18 year olds as adults for gruesome crimes, is unfortunate and impedes on the rights of juveniles in India. It should be realised that crime is generally a reflection of the shortcomings of society as a whole, and not solely a problem of individual conduct.
Though it is important that people who commit violent crimes be penalised so that they, as well as other members of society, are deterred from repeating the act, we cannot put an end to such crimes until we address the systemic and structural causes that lie at their root.
This is especially true in the case of juvenile crime. No one can deny that a child of 16 is incapable of committing a gruesome crime unless subjected to particularly depraved and dehumanizing external influences from a very early age. The fact that children do commit gruesome crimes in our society indicates our utter failure to protect them from such influences. It has absolutely nothing to do with the children’s own disposition, aptitudes or capabilities, which, given their circumstances, are never even allowed to find expression.
How then, can punishing the child serve any constructive purpose? People who are calling for the juvenile convicted in the Jyoti Singh rape case to be given the death penalty need to ask themselves this question. Capital punishment is inhuman, and can never be an effective deterrent, as it forecloses all possibility of reform. It merely serves as an outlet for the anger and frustration of people who have a very superficial understanding of what gives rise to criminal behaviour.
The juvenile in question has already spent 3 years in a reform facility, and if the institution is functioning effectively, he may have realised his mistake and be on the path to a better life. Instead of hounding a single individual in this way, we need to focus our energies on reforming our society by countering patriarchal and casteist attitudes, especially in our own homes, neighbourhoods and workplaces, and providing everyone the chance to live a life of dignity and justice.
