India's Horror: Rape by Juveniles on the Rise

Bangalore: In India, criminals in the age group of 16-18 are in much debate over their treatment as juvenile delinquents and sadly rape by juveniles is a monstrous crime which is on the rise. Among the various rape cases reported, offenders often fall under the juvenile age group. On the other hand, discussions are raging over whether the underage criminals should be treated as juvenile criminals or not, reported Jayaraj Sivan for TOI.

As per the most recent statistics given out by the National Crime Records Bureau for 2012, Tamil Nadu witnessed a 233 percent increase in juveniles with rape charges between the year 2010 and 2012. Odisha has come across with the maximum rise (411 percent) of rape charges. Madhya Pradesh recorded 284 numbers of arrests in India followed by Uttar Pradesh with 123 arrests.

There are number of reports on arrests of juveniles on rape charges across the country with 109 arrests in Rajasthan, 106 in Maharashtra, 89 in West Bengal, 87 in Odisha and 81 in Andhra Pradesh.

The Capital city, Delhi which holds the dishonorable tag of rape capital of India also reported 63 arrests of juvenile rapists. Down South in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, 30 juveniles each were arrested on rape charges and 13 were arrested from Karnataka.

To tackle such crimes, a section of the society believe in cutting down the age of juvenile offenders and feel that punishment should be given but psychologists and child rights activists disagree with such a solution.