The Union Government wants 16-18-year-olds, charged with heinous crimes, to be tried as adults.
The media must be free and fair, uninfluenced by corporate or state interests. That's why you, the public, need to pay to keep news free.
ContributeThe Union government has proposed a major change to India’s Juvenile Justice Act 2000. It wants 16 to 18 year olds charged with committing heinous crimes, to be tried as adults, following the assessment of the Juvenile Justice Board. The assessment whether a crime was committed as a ‘child’ or as an ‘adult’ will be made by psychologists and social experts.The accused will be tried accordingly.
Governments have been under pressure to be tougher on juvenile criminals especially since the brutal rape and murder of Jyoti Singh in December 2012 in Delhi. One of the six accused ‘Bhura’, aged 17 and a half years reportedly one of the the most violent of the six convicted, received three years in a reform home as he was minor.
Even as the government gets ready to introduce an amendment with these changes in the current session of Parliament, young people react to the move.
General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans together to focus on the issues that really matter to the voter. From political funding to battleground states, media coverage to 10 years of Modi, choose a project you would like to support and power our journalism.
Ground reportage is central to public interest journalism. Only readers like you can make it possible. Will you?