HYDERABAD: Almost everyone living in Hyderabad was horrified by the recent case of a girl being molested near DBR Mills, near Lower Tank Bund, the heart of the city. It was a teenager that stripped her, molested her and even recorded videos of the act on his phone.
To an unsuspecting citizen, the prospect of a juvenile committing such a heinous crime is just impossible. However, data suggests that POCSO offences (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) are the second most common crimes committed by juveniles.
Data released by the Department of Juvenile Welfare, Correctional Services & Welfare of Street Children for 2018 indicates that as many as 563 children have been caught for committing a myriad of crimes.
As many as 108 juveniles currently housed in correctional homes were sent there for committing POCSO crimes! Another 13 children are in homes for other kinds of sexual offences. Also, in total, around 64 per cent of all crimes have been categorised into theft, robbery and other offences.
The most number of juvenile crimes were reported in Rangareddy district (49), followed Hyderabad district (31) and Mahbubnagar district (28). “Minors caught in POCSO rarely have any social infrastructure dissuading them from committing these offences. Nobody stops them and they think nobody can catch them either,” says Assistant Chief Probationary Superintendent A Rajender.
Officials also note that many of these children rarely consider the massive repercussions their actions will have on their lives. “They have very little awareness of the law. They think what they do is ‘harmless’ or ‘casual’ and that it is okay,” says Rajender, recalling a recent case wherein a juvenile from another State was harassing a child here. Of course, not all victims are girls or women, he adds.
Experts in the subject note the need to incorporate various departments such as Education, Police and the Department of Women and Child Welfare in order to create awareness and to ensure boys do not take to such crimes.