A crumbling system is depriving India's young offenders of a 'second chance'
Summary
India's juvenile justice system faces challenges, with many young offenders not receiving the proper legal process. Issues include cases not being handled by the correct juvenile boards and a lack of data tracking, leading to long prison stays for minors like Pooja, who was in prison for six years instead of being reviewed by a special board for juveniles.Key Facts
- Pooja was 16 when accused of a crime and was wrongly placed in an adult prison for six years.
- Indian law requires juvenile cases to be reviewed by a Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) within 24 hours.
- JJBs decide if minors aged 16-18 should be tried as adults for serious crimes.
- Pooja was released after her case was finally reviewed by a JJB, which confirmed she was a minor.
- Many JJBs are not fully staffed, with a significant number of cases pending.
- Only 707 JJBs exist for 745 districts in India.
- The India Justice Report found that over half the cases before JJBs were still awaiting a hearing.
- The juvenile justice system's effectiveness is affected by the poor functioning and oversight of these boards.
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