Juvenile crimes in the state rose by 63% rise in eight years -- from 2001 to 2008. Teenagers and children below the age of 18 were booked for serious crimes like murder, attempt to murder, and even rape.
The number of juvenile crimes increased from 2,810 in 2001 to 4,597 in 2008, said the 11th annual report, 'Crime in Maharashtra, 2008', released by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Pune on Saturday. Mumbai police commissioner D Shivanandhan was present on the occasion as chief guest.
Speaking to DNA, psychologists said that the society needed to pay more attention to this surge in criminal activities among the juveniles. Criminal lawyer Alankar Karlekar said that pushing juveniles into crime has emerged as a new trend. "In many cases, it has come to our notice that hardcore criminals are using children. It helps avoiding detection and also works out to be affordable (costwise)," he said. "Also, juveniles escape harsh punishments."
Of the 141 murders by juveniles recorded in the state, 22 were committed in Pune. Next came Solapur rural [14] and Jalgaon [10]. Pune also recorded the highest number of cases related to attempt to murder [21] and burglaries.
Mumbai came first, recording 10 rape cases involving juveniles in 2008. Pune, Thane and Nagpur had five cases each. Over 47% of the cases were registered in the nine police commissionerates (urban areas), including Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, Nashik and Solapur.
"On most occasions,these children -- some of them from well-to-do-families -- did not have a motive to commit crime, but were lured and used," said Anuradha Sahasrabuddhe, founder-director of Dnyanadevi Childline, Pune. She added that sometimes the police treated those children too harshly. With no support -- neither from their families nor from the society -- these kids were left with no alternative but to tread the path of crime.
Thane topped the list in burglary cases [72], followed by Mumbai [66] and Pune [62]. For cases related to causing grievous injuries, Mumbai registered the highest number of cases [153], followed by Pune [72].
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