Profile of juvenile offenders brought to a teaching hospital in Northeast India

Introduction: According to the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, a juvenile is a person whose age is below 18 years. The aim of this study is to study the profile of juvenile offenders brought to a teaching hospital in northeast India. Materials and Methods: Alleged juvenile offenders who were brought for examination during 2012 to 2016 in our centre were studied. A detailed background of the alleged juvenile offender, crimes committed by them, history given by the police, the statements of the alleged juvenile offenders and examination findings were taken into consideration. Results: In the present study, of all the medico legal cases (1,139) brought to our centre for examination during 2012 to 2016, 78 (6.84%) were alleged juvenile offenders. The examination of these alleged juvenile offenders revealed that 86.9% of them were between > 15 years to 18 years of age; however, the remaining offenders were above 18 years of age. Meiteis constituted 68.4% of these cases and the maximum number of offenders (62.8%) studied up to class VI to Class X. Most of the juvenile offenders were students (61.5%) followed by unemployed youths (24.4%). Interestingly, 5.1% of the juveniles were already married. Among all the crimes committed by the juveniles, 67.9% were alleged rape, 15.4% were involved in terrorist activities, 8.9% in theft and dacoity, 3.9 % in alleged rape and murder and 1.9% each in attempt to murder, murder and kidnapping. Conclusion: The rate of juvenile offenders with less and interrupted education was considerably high with alleged rape seen as the most common offence committed by juveniles. Good rehabilitation and correctional approach can help in curving juvenile offences and crimes.