Court sentences minor to 10 years in prison for raping minor – ThePrint –

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) A court here has sentenced a minor to rigorous imprisonment of 10 years for raping a 10-year-old girl in 2017, saying he could not be released at the current stage and needed reform .

Observing that there was ‘absolute chaos, confusion and uncertainty’ over the role of various officials in the Rehabilitation of Children in Conflict (CCL), the court also directed the Delhi government to issue a standing order to address various concerns regarding to tackle youth issues.

According to the prosecutor, in violation of the law, the child, who was about 17 years old at the time of the commission of the crime, forcibly took the victim to his home and raped her on June 4, 2017.

In its judgment delivered on Tuesday, the court, after considering the mitigating and aggravating circumstances, sentenced the child to ten years’ imprisonment under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and seven years’ imprisonment for kidnapping in violation of law.

The court said the sentences would run concurrently.

The court also awarded compensation of Rs 10.5 lakh to the victim.

Meanwhile, the court, while castigating the authorities concerned, said that despite the fact that the minor stayed in an observation home for 79 days, his Individual Care Plan (ICP) and rehabilitation card were not drawn up, nor was a probation officer working on the case after his release on bail. .

“This shows the failure of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) system and non-compliance with the legal provisions of the JJ Act and the JJ Model Rules. At the instance of the court, perfunctory reports have been filed from time to time in the name of the ICP and periodic reviews and these are of limited value as they are not a product of any rehabilitation process…,” the court said.

The court said there was “absolute chaos, confusion and uncertainty” over the role of various officials in implementing the plan for the rehabilitation of CCLs.

“There appears to be no clarity about the role, and here too no attention appears to be paid to such matters at an operational level,” the court said.

The court directed the Secretary of the Women and Child Development (WCD) of the Delhi government to issue a detailed standing order to address “operational issues, issues of non-compliance with the provisions of the JJ Act and its rules, procedural ambiguities, appropriateness of different forms and rules”. reports etc. and other matters of concern relating to cases of CCL coming before the Children’s Courts”.

Citing the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, the court noted that when a CCL was tried as an adult offender, the court had to determine whether the juvenile had been reformed at the time the final order was issued, and that a reformed CCL could be be released at the age of 21 on the basis of the reforms.

By law, when sentencing a CCL, reform and rehabilitation were the primary concerns and the court was not required to impose a maximum sentence.

“Taking into account the facts and circumstances and according to the previous reports received from the concerned superintendents, the CCL has not undergone any corrective therapy for his reformation and rehabilitation, nor undergone any vocational course or continued his studies… The CCL cannot be released, but he needs reform,” the court said.

The court said that the concept of prison discipline was based on deterrence and reform, and that the prison was more of a correctional or improvement facility, with an emphasis on reforming the prisoner through punishment. PTI MNR AS

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