New Delhi: Juveniles who went to school committed crimes more than those who did not, in 2017, according to the latest report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on ‘Crime in India’.
The number of ‘educated’ juvenile offenders, who have studied up to matriculation and higher secondary levels, increased to 6,260 in 2017 from 4,244 in 2016 — a difference of over 32 per cent, said the report that was released earlier this week.
On the other hand, the number of ‘illiterate’ juveniles caught for criminal activities reduced by 20 per cent, the report revealed.
Most juvenile offenders usually fall in the ‘illiterate’ category, but the NCRB data, which has come a year late, shows otherwise. From 5,412 ‘illiterate’ juvenile delinquents in 2016, the number came down to 4,324 in 2017, according to the data.
But the number of juvenile offenders who have studied from primary to matriculation level showed a decrease of 32 per cent — from 14,501 (who studied upto Class V) and 20,014 (who studied between Class V-X) in 2016 to 10,790 and 17,566 in 2017, respectively.
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Delhi has highest percentage of crime by juveniles
The national capital registered an 11.5 per cent increase in the number of crimes committed by juveniles in 2017, according to the report.
At 35.2 per cent, Delhi also had the highest percentage of the crimes committed by juveniles in 2017, among 19 metropolitan cities with a population of more than 2 million.
The NCRB report also showed that of the total 2,677 crimes committed by juveniles in Delhi, 46 were murder cases, 132 were rape cases, 93 molestation cases, 320 robberies, 17 incidents of unnatural sex, seven dacoities and 49 cases of rash driving.
The most common crime committed by juveniles in Delhi was theft — 1,381 cases.
The NCRB report also revealed that 3,268 juveniles were apprehended in Delhi in 2017. Of these, 210 studied between Class X-XII, 1,213 between Class V-X, 1,084 dropped out of school before Class V and 752 were illiterate.
As many as 1,611 juveniles also had their cases pending disposal in the beginning of 2017. Of these, 409 juveniles were sent home after advice or admonition, 106 were sent to special homes, 66 were fined, eight were awarded imprisonment and 89 acquitted, the data revealed.
Of the total juveniles apprehended in Delhi, 2,783 were found to be living with their parents, 248 with their local guardians and 237 were homeless.
On the report, Dr R. Indira, a Mysuru-based sociologist with over 40 years of experience, said it was crucial to understand the kind of education the children are receiving and the kind of schools they are attending.
“One cannot overlook how those who receive education today are also more exposed to other domains and forms of knowledge and the curiosity emerging out of that could perhaps sometimes result in an increased tendency to commit crime,” she said.
“There are multiple factors into play and it is also important to understand how they define ‘illiterate’ when they put these figures down,” she added.
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Samudranil Mukherjee is a freelance content writer and editor from kolkata. On june 19 2017 he published his article “Drug Abuse: causes and solutions “. In this article he said that 46, 410 cases of substance abuse by street children were reported in delhi last year. The
NGO ‘Save the children ‘ stated that about 50, 923 children live on the streets of delhi in 2011.Out of these 46, 411 children were addicted to drugs.