Court sentenced minor to 10 years in prison for rape – ThePrint –

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) A court here has sentenced a youth who raped a 10-year-old girl in 2017 to rigorous imprisonment, saying that he cannot be released at the present stage and reforms are needed.

Observing that there was “absolute chaos, confusion and uncertainty” regarding the role of various officials in rehabilitating children in conflict of law (CCL), the court also directed the Delhi government to issue a standing order to address various concerns regarding child cases.

According to the prosecution, the juvenile, who was 17 years old at the time of the crime, forcibly took the victim to his home on June 4, 2017 and raped her.

In its decision announced on Tuesday, the court, after evaluating the mitigating and aggravating factors, sentenced the boy who violated the law to 10 years of hard imprisonment under Article 6 of the POCSO Act and 7 years of hard imprisonment for kidnapping.

The court said the sentences would be given simultaneously.

The court also ordered compensation of 10.5 thousand rupees to the victim.

Meanwhile, while punishing the officials concerned, the court said that despite the child’s stay in the observation home for 79 days, the Individual Care Plan (IIP) and rehabilitation card were not prepared and no probation officer worked on the case after he was released on bail. .

“This demonstrates the failure of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) system and non-compliance with the legal provisions of the JJ Act and the JJ Model Rules. “On the initiative of the court, perfunctory reports are submitted from time to time in the name of ICP and periodic review, but their value is limited since they are not the product of any rehabilitation process…” he said.

The court said there was “absolute chaos, confusion and uncertainty” about the roles of various officers in implementing the plan to rehabilitate CCLs.

“There appears to be no clarity of role and no attention to such matters at the operational level,” the court said.

The court wrote to the Delhi government’s women and child development (WCD) secretary citing “operational difficulties, issues of non-compliance with the provisions and rules of the JJ Act, procedural ambiguities, appropriateness of various formats and reports etc. and other concerns regarding CCL cases coming to the juvenile courts”.

Referring to the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, the court noted that where a CCL is tried as an adult offender, the court must decide whether the child was reformed at the time the final judgment was made and that a reformed CCL can be corrected as such. According to the reforms, he will be released at the age of 21.

According to the law, reform and rehabilitation were the priority issues when sentencing CCL, and the court was not required to impose the maximum sentence.

“Considering the facts and circumstances and according to the previous reports received from the relevant inspectors, CCL did not undergo any corrective therapy, attend any vocational courses or continue his studies for his reformation and rehabilitation… CCL cannot be released, instead the court said that reform should be carried out.

The court said that the concept of prison discipline is based on deterrence and correction, and that prison is more of a correctional or rehabilitation facility that emphasizes the reformation of prisoners through punishment. PTI MNR Inc.

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