“Protecting a child’s right is the duty of every person in the society,” said City Police Commissioner Dr. M.A. Saleem here this morning.

He was speaking after inaugurating a workshop ‘Child Rights and Juvenile Justice Act’ jointly organised by People’s Legal Forum (PLF) and Police Department at City Police Commissioner’s office.

“We find a lot of juvenile offenders in the society within the age group of 8-18 years. This is the age during which they need proper guidance as they will not be in a position to judge what is wrong and right. It is also the age during which children cannot defend their rights. In such situations, it is the duty of elders to protect the child rights and lead them in the right path,” said Dr. Saleem and added that bad environment, stress and certain circumstances forced juveniles to commit crimes.

“There are also cases where children become the victims of sexual harassment and other crimes as few people take advantage of the situation and child’s weakness which hinders their personality development. Such children should be rehabilitated and make them involved actively in the society”, said the City Police Chief.

He further said that children should not be imprisoned as it builds a sense of guilt among them. This apart, there is every chance of them coming in contact with habitual criminals and involve themselves in more serious crimes after their release. The Juvenile Justice Act has provided certain guidelines to treat the juvenile offenders which do not allow the juvenile offender to be sent to jail, taken to police station or even to be produced before the Court. Such children should be sent to Juvenile Home and are produced before the Juvenile Justice Board. Dr. Saleem said the J.J. Act also prohibits from disclosing the names or photographs of the juvenile offenders to the society.

District Child Protection officer, R. Somalatha said that the J.J. Act has been introduced to provide justice and uphold the rights of children. It has made it compulsory to provide education and rehabilitation to children found on the streets.

She said that the Board was also implementing various policies for the overall development of the children in the district since 2012.

The workshop was conducted to educate the Police personnel working on the field to protect children found on the streets.

Courtesy : Star Of Mysore