No lesson learnt from Nirbhaya; juvenile accused are treated too leniently: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday expressed anguish over the fact that the law in India treats juvenile accused persons too leniently even after they commit horrific crimes like rape [Rishabh Atle (Minor) through next friend (Father) Jaikishan Atle v. State of Madhya Pradesh]..Justice Subodh Abhyankar questioned the legislature for its failure to enact much stricter laws against juvenile-accused and said that no lesson has been learnt even though more than a decade has passed since the horrific Nirbhaya gang rape of 2012."Juveniles in this country are being treated rather too leniently, and that the Legislature, to the utter misfortune of the victims of such crimes, has still not learnt any lessons from the horrors of Nirbhaya," the Court said in an epilogue to the judgment titled 'About one more Nirbhaya'. The Court even highlighted how the constitutional courts in the country have time and again expressed views in favor of stricter laws against juvenile but the legislature has not taken any step towards it."Although such voices are being raised time and again by the Constitutional Courts of this country, but to the utter dismay of the victims, they have not been able to make any impact on the legislature even after a decade of Nirbhaya which took place in the year 2012," the Court noted.The observations were made while upholding the conviction of a juvenile for the rape of a 4-year-old minor..In its judgment, the Court noted that the juvenile has been on the run from observation home since November 2019 and is untraceable.Nevertheless, it heard the appeal filed by his father against his conviction by the trial court and upheld the same.The case arose in December 2017, when the juvenile, who was the son of a landlord, went to the house of the tenant and asked the 4-year-old daughter (victim) of the tenant to come with him. Soon thereafter, the cry of the victim was heard and her mother found her unconscious on the bed and the appellant was standing beside her.When asked about the incident, the juvenile ran away from the place. The mother then examined the child and found that the victim was bleeding from her private parts.The trial court convicted the juvenile under Section 376(2)(i)(k) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 5(m)(i) and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act). The juvenile was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for each of the offence.The trial court ordered that the juvenile must be send to prison only after he attains age of 21 years.The juvenile then moved the High Court through his father..The High Court noted that as per the medical report, the victim had suffered various injuries on her private parts and was brutally raped. Considering the pattern of injuries on the victim and the fact that sexual characteristic of the juvenile were fully developed, the Court proceeded to uphold the rape conviction of juvenile..In its epilogue, the Court highlighted that the medical report of the victim clearly indicated the "demonic conduct and mindset" of the juvenile. The Court expressed extreme distress over the fact that the juvenile in the present case is absconding from the observation home and could be lurking in some dark corner of the street for yet another prey."Looking at the overwhelming medical evidence available in the present case, it does not taken an expert to see as to how demonic the appellant’s conduct was while he was juvenile, and his mindset can also be gathered from the fact that he has also absconded from the observation home, and presently is at large, probably lurking in some dark corner of the street, for yet another prey, and there is nobody to stop him," the Court observed while upholding the conviction and sentence of the juvenile..The Court directed the copy of the order to be sent to the Law Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi.