Under the existing laws one of the accused in the Delhi rape case is under the age of 18 around 17 and half year. He will be tried separately by a juvenile court and to get maximum punishment of three years. Laws are enacted or amended according to the situation and requirement of the Society.
The crimes of rape accompanied with murders were committed before also. But the society has taken the Delhi rape as seriously as savagely it was committed. It is being considered as national outrage. The youths – girls and boys of Delhi shock the nation to the gravity of such crime. Of course youths cannot convict the accused and award sentence. But they have fundamental right to demand and agitate on this issue. They want maximum punishment of death sentence to all the accused and enactment or amendment of laws to that effects. Everybody in the country has justified Delhi outrage against he outrage of the girl who was kidnapped, raped, assaulted, brutalized and killed. The Government under the compelling situation appointed Commissions, Committees and many inquiry bodies. But the discontent over the age and juvenility of one accused should not be allowed to prolong and to culminate in another mass agitation.
Few years back the Government has lowered the age of adult franchise to the election to state Assemblies and Lok Sabha from the age of 21 to the age of 18. When it was 21 the age of Juvenility was 3 years less fixed as 18. Now when the adult franchise age is 18 now the juvenile age should also be lowered by three years to the age of 15. It is totally absurd to keep both on par at 18 years of age. It is a flaw in law that while lowering the franchise age from 21 to 18 we missed or failed to reduce the juvenile age on that proportion at the same time. Now the lapse should be corrected and rectified by lowering the juvenile age upto 15 years maintaining the previous difference of three years.
Founder : Late Shri Ramgopal Maheshwari
