District level consultation on juvenile law held
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Lamka, August 21 2012: In order to make the police more efficient in dealing with cases involving juveniles, a one day workshop christened as District Level Consultation for Police Personnel on Juvenile Justice Act was conducted in Churachandpur district headquarters in southern Manipur today.

The occasion was jointly organised by Churachandpur District Police department and New Life Foundation, Manipur.

The programme was co-sponsored by CRY, Kolkata and Manipur Social Welfare department.

Speaking in the workshop, convenor of MACR Mr K.Pradipkumar said that owing to the difficulty in identifying whether a person is still considered as a child i.e one who is yet to attain the age of eighteen according to the definition of juvenile and as termed by the Juvenile Justice ( Care and Protection ) Act, 2000, many acts of the police have created problems.

Pradipkumar while pointing out the importance of biological age determination to be conducted by the police when making apprehension of any child for some minor offends maintained that there are times when the age of the person concerns which are, for instance 15 was recorded as 21 or 22 and then gives the treatment as if he or she is mature "This causes more harm than good," Pradipkumar said .

He also added that sometimes the age of an apprehended person may be determined on looks and his appearances and in the process those who appeared as very old but young in age, happens to get the worst form of punishment.

The MACR convenor then stated that sending a juvenile without proper determination of his age to jail may be counter-productive and create more social problems while adding that there are times of confusion when a child is arrested who had already got himself inducted into a militant outfit.

"The question comes whether the juvenile should be sent to jail or place under the care of Justice Juvenile Board ( JJB) .

Pradipkumar stressed the need for the clear determination of anyone arrested by the police before proceeding to a next step saying that there are no proper places to look after the person if the police having had arrested a child but registered him as an adult.

Pradipkumar also suggested that a good communication procedure between the police and the Juvenile Justice Board is a must .

Giving her presentation on the theme, "Salient Features of Juvenile Justice Act " in the worshop, K Saroja Devi who is the Probation Officer in the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Manipur, highlighted the conditions of working girls in cities.

She said there are so many people in the region working at massage parlours and other work places in cities getting no proper facilities to live and are greatly exploited.

In this regard, she cited an example one girl they have rescued recently from Kerala hailing from Chandel district who was very sick and needed good medical attention .

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