The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : A social problem

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 10, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

A social problem

LAW &ORDER Juvenile crime is a serious social issue, writes R. Ilangovan

The other day, the City police produced four teenagers of whom three were below 14 years before the media saying that they were responsible for a series of housebreakings and chain-snatchings that rocked the city in the last two months. The three boys sported half pants and had innocence writ large on their faces. Police Commissioner K. Gopalakrishnan while expressing his anguish over the increasing juvenile crimes in the city also explained how the three used to target isolated houses for committing offences.

The special team, which was formed to detect the crimes, was at a loss for quite some time. "Despite our best efforts for weeks, we were not in a position to nab the criminals involved in the house-breakings. After sustained interrogation and investigation we zeroed in on these boys," said Mr. Gopalakrishnan. Police grew suspicious when they closely studied the nature of crimes and places of occurrence. One or two tiles in the roof of the houses that were targeted for thefts were found removed. "Either a lean man or a boy alone could gain entry through this gap. We focussed our investigation on this," the Commissioner said.

When asked, the neighbours showed their fingers towards a group of boys who used to play in the neighbourhood.

"We caught hold of them only to enquire whether they saw any suspicious movements. But the boys confessed to their crime to our shock and disbelief," he said.

With the looted money they had a whale of a time spending lavishly in hotels and restaurants. When their parents were informed, they told the police that they had `discarded' the boys as they indulged in such crimes in the past too. In fact, the police had nabbed them on one or two earlier occasions for minor offences. "They were warned and let off then," a police officer said. Now they have transformed to serious offenders. Juvenile crime is a serious social issue that needs to be tackled from many fronts.

Social scientists claim that the poor socio-economic background, lack of proper attention of parents and growing consumerism happen to be the leading factors that contribute to the proliferation of juvenile crimes.

The school dropout ratio adds to it. Despite the government's best efforts to address these serious issues, juvenile criminals thrive. "Effective monitoring of these juvenile criminals even after their release and rehabilitation package alone can solve this social problem," they point out.

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