BENGALURU: The recent string of escapes from the juvenile home in Madivala has now made the supervisors of the home a worried lot. They fear the psychology of the juveniles in the home changes with every successful escape.
Officials say that handling such offenders — who are caught and brought back to the home — has become tougher as the children do not want to abide by the laws even after being counselled.
Even minors, who are sent to the home after committing crimes, are already hardened and give the wardens a tough time with their behaviour. According to an official from the observation home for boys, the boys who attempted to escape repeatedly were much more aggressive on their return.
“During counselling, they have said that they want to ensure that they make a name for themselves in the criminal world of the city. They say that they would like to gain fame and become ‘professional’ gangsters. A few of them even told the counsellors that they wanted all police stations to have records of crimes they had committed,” the officer said.
In such a scenario, rehabilitating the children has become almost impossible. “They don’t concentrate on workshops themselves and they also divert the attention of other juveniles telling that they should not be influenced by the workshops. The recent round of escapes included children who did not even stay for 2 weeks at the home and were influenced by the others who had escaped earlier.”
According to experts, the boys were likely to be suffering from conduct disorders making it important that they be re-integrated into society as soon as possible.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Dr. A Jagadish, Consultant Psychiatrist from Abhaya Hospital, said, “Teens aged between 14-17 years easily become members of gangs by observing film characters indulge in violence. These children also adopt the same.”
Promises remain on paper
Two months back, after yet another escape, Women and Child Development Minister Jayamala had promised an overhaul of the entire juvenile home and had transferred five employees on charges of negligence in allowing 13 boys to flee. However, besides the immediate action, nothing has changed on the ground. At that time, the minister had said that she had even visited the home, a claim that the officials refuted. Other promises, to raise the height of the compound wall to 10 feet from 7 feet and the installation of a fence on top with CCTV camera coverage have also not been implemented so far.
Escapees becoming more violent
Last Friday, five inmates escaped from the state-run observation home for boys at Madivala, after assaulting a security guard. A total of 15 boys made an attempt to escape, and 10 of them were nabbed immediately with the help of the public. Efforts are on trace the five who got away. On July 31, 13 juveniles escaped after assaulting a guard and tying another one up before fleeing. One of them was caught in Koramangala within hours of escape, while others were nabbed in Girinagar.