Well, the juvenile justice board in all it's infinite wisdom all but dealt a death blow to the clamour for justice for the 23 year old brave heart who lost her valiant battle for life after a brutal assault on her by six monster reincarnates.
The juvenile justice board accepted the school certificate submitted by the authorities of the school in Budaon that the sixth and most brutal attended till class 6 in his village that certifies him to be 17 years 6 months and 11 days old at the time of the heinous crime being committed and also summarily rejected the application for a bone ossification test put up before it by the Delhi police.
What this simply means in layman's terms is that Nirbhaya's most brutal assailant who not only perpetrated the most inhuman crimes against her but also goaded his fellow assailants into following in his wake will walk away relatively scot free after a mandatory three year incarceration in a correctional facility and will therefore spend no time in jail whatsoever.
Child right proponents and human right activists have welcomed this judgement and have said on record that this extremely violent human being can be reformed through a tried and tested process of care and counselling before being unleashed on the Indian society at large.
Which brings us back to the moot point whether the concerned judge should go by the spirit or the letter of the law which implicitly states the fact that anybody under the age of 18 is a minor and therefore cannot be tried under the laws applicable to adults or then base his ruling on the premise that the assailant or culprit is mature enough to carry out/perpetrate this heinous crime on an unsuspecting victim and the punishment in that case should be commensurate with the gravity of the offence committed.
Yes, India does swear by a United Nations statute that classifies anybody below the age of 18 as a minor, but the very same statute also rates rape as the most brutal and inhuman crime that can be carried out against somebody. The United Kingdom and United States of America also conform to the very same statute but also accord their judges the flexibility and elbow room to try persons between the ages of 16 and 18 as adults and try them under the same sections of the law depending upon the heinousness and brutality of the crimes committed by them.
A little over 33,300 crimes were committed by minors in India during the years 2011-2012 as per the figures put out by the very same juvenile authorities and around 27% of all the crimes committed by juveniles fell into the serious or heinous category of rape and murder; while this may pale in comparison to the approximately 1.2 million such crimes carried out by juveniles in the US of A during the same period, this lopsided argument cannot tide over the mitigating circumstances.
Why don't the laws of our country accord our judges the very same flexibility to try the accused/assailants according to the laws pertaining to adults based on the severity/ heinousness or barbarity of the crime committed and will not letting the most brutal assailant get away scot free rob the deceased victim of the very same rights guaranteed to her under the Indian system.
Laws should always be in tune with the changing times and all punishment should be based on the mitigating circumstances of the crime committed, the efficacy and effectiveness of the laws and their deterrent effect will be dealt a body blow every time an adverse judgement is passed based on the letter and not spirit of the law.
One is sorry to sound a little cynical and harsh, but one cannot help feeling that this judgement meted out by the juvenile justice board will only prove to be a shot in the arm for such latent or wannabe criminals who will become even more emboldened now and carry out such brutal assaults with growing impunity.
As for dyed in wool human and child right activists who cry themselves hoarse about the appalling and seemingly inhuman conditions prevailing within juvenile homes and correctional facilities, I would like to ask them why they haven't being devoting their concerted energies towards improving the standards of these very same homes instead of crying wolf whenever the opportunity arises.
The prosecution has all but made up it's mind about appealing against the judgement of the juvenile justice before the High court; will the 23 year old brave heart's ravaged soul get the much desired justice from the High Court at least, well that is the million dollar or then should one say rupee question.
The juvenile justice board accepted the school certificate submitted by the authorities of the school in Budaon that the sixth and most brutal attended till class 6 in his village that certifies him to be 17 years 6 months and 11 days old at the time of the heinous crime being committed and also summarily rejected the application for a bone ossification test put up before it by the Delhi police.
What this simply means in layman's terms is that Nirbhaya's most brutal assailant who not only perpetrated the most inhuman crimes against her but also goaded his fellow assailants into following in his wake will walk away relatively scot free after a mandatory three year incarceration in a correctional facility and will therefore spend no time in jail whatsoever.
Child right proponents and human right activists have welcomed this judgement and have said on record that this extremely violent human being can be reformed through a tried and tested process of care and counselling before being unleashed on the Indian society at large.
Which brings us back to the moot point whether the concerned judge should go by the spirit or the letter of the law which implicitly states the fact that anybody under the age of 18 is a minor and therefore cannot be tried under the laws applicable to adults or then base his ruling on the premise that the assailant or culprit is mature enough to carry out/perpetrate this heinous crime on an unsuspecting victim and the punishment in that case should be commensurate with the gravity of the offence committed.
Yes, India does swear by a United Nations statute that classifies anybody below the age of 18 as a minor, but the very same statute also rates rape as the most brutal and inhuman crime that can be carried out against somebody. The United Kingdom and United States of America also conform to the very same statute but also accord their judges the flexibility and elbow room to try persons between the ages of 16 and 18 as adults and try them under the same sections of the law depending upon the heinousness and brutality of the crimes committed by them.
A little over 33,300 crimes were committed by minors in India during the years 2011-2012 as per the figures put out by the very same juvenile authorities and around 27% of all the crimes committed by juveniles fell into the serious or heinous category of rape and murder; while this may pale in comparison to the approximately 1.2 million such crimes carried out by juveniles in the US of A during the same period, this lopsided argument cannot tide over the mitigating circumstances.
Why don't the laws of our country accord our judges the very same flexibility to try the accused/assailants according to the laws pertaining to adults based on the severity/ heinousness or barbarity of the crime committed and will not letting the most brutal assailant get away scot free rob the deceased victim of the very same rights guaranteed to her under the Indian system.
Laws should always be in tune with the changing times and all punishment should be based on the mitigating circumstances of the crime committed, the efficacy and effectiveness of the laws and their deterrent effect will be dealt a body blow every time an adverse judgement is passed based on the letter and not spirit of the law.
One is sorry to sound a little cynical and harsh, but one cannot help feeling that this judgement meted out by the juvenile justice board will only prove to be a shot in the arm for such latent or wannabe criminals who will become even more emboldened now and carry out such brutal assaults with growing impunity.
As for dyed in wool human and child right activists who cry themselves hoarse about the appalling and seemingly inhuman conditions prevailing within juvenile homes and correctional facilities, I would like to ask them why they haven't being devoting their concerted energies towards improving the standards of these very same homes instead of crying wolf whenever the opportunity arises.
The prosecution has all but made up it's mind about appealing against the judgement of the juvenile justice before the High court; will the 23 year old brave heart's ravaged soul get the much desired justice from the High Court at least, well that is the million dollar or then should one say rupee question.
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