JUDICIAL NEWS

1. Law on juvenile justice: People who are mature cannot be completely

exempted from the criminal justice system

If the perpetrator is mature enough, they must be brought before the

criminal court, tried, and punished if found guilty.

In its ruling on November 16 in the infamous Kathua rape-murder case, the

Supreme Court (SC) stated: "... the rising percentage of juvenile delinquency in
India is a subject of concern and requires quick response. There is a school of
thinking in our nation that truly thinks that if the accused is a child, his
treatment should be based only on the intention of reformation, regardless of
how horrific the act may be—whether it be a single rape, gangrape, drug
dealing, or murder. The school of thinking we are discussing regards
reformation as the ideal end-state. We question whether the [Juvenile Justice
(Care and Protection of Children)] Act, 2015 has accomplished its purpose
given how terrible and heinous crimes have been and are still being committed
throughout time by juveniles. We have begun to form the opinion that the
adolescents are becoming more and more emboldened to commit such horrible
crimes as a result of the leniency with which they are treated in the name of
reformation. It is up to the government to decide whether or not its 2015 law has
proven to be successful and whether further action is still necessary before it is
too late.

In fact, a "kid in confrontation with the law" or juvenile offender may become
unreformable due to a lack of opportunity or exposure to dehumanising
conditions like poverty and violence. Children may develop this hardening for
reasons other than socioeconomic status, of course.

REFERENCES-

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/offender-vs-offence-juvenile-
justice-bill-8293489/

2. According to a survey, the prevalence of child marriages in AP is

about 30%.

According to NGOs' research, 3% of brides were married for between 10 and 14

years.

In Andhra Pradesh, almost 78% of child brides become mothers when they are
still in their teen years. The prevalence of child marriages in the State is as high
as 29.3 percent, according to a study by the NGO Child Rights and You (CRY)
in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh, even
though there has been a decrease in the number of child marriages compared to
the previous year.

Kesali Appa Rao, the chairman of the AP State Commission for Protection of
Child Rights (APSCPCR), has identified a number of factors, including parental
poor health, poverty, migration, and shattered families, that contribute to the
high rate of child marriages in the states under investigation.

According to K. Sudha Rani, Main Fellow of Krishna District Group

Fellowship (KDGF), backed by CRY, "poor education and lack of transit
facilities in communities, financial concerns, superstitions and blind beliefs, and
lack of security were some of the causes for the underage weddings." She
suggested that the State implement more programmes for raising awareness.

J. Lalithamma, the director of Peoples Organisation for Rural Development

(PORD), who participated in the forum, thought it was tragic that some child
brides had their husbands depart them after giving birth to two daughters.

According to child rights organisations, a few young mothers under the age of
16 died as a result of maternal issues at the time of delivery, and infant mortality
occurred in some cases.

REFERENCES-

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/prevalance-of-child-
marriages-in-ap-is-nearly-30-says-study/article66281345.ece

3. 20% of women in the 20–24 age range wed before turning 18,
according to a report.

According to the data analysis released as part of the "Social Progress Index"
for states and districts, more than 20% of women in India's 313 districts who
were between the ages of 20 and 24 were already married when they were under
the age of 18, which is the country's legal marriage age. In contrast, the TOI
claimed, citing the survey, that among women in the age range of 20 to 24
years, more than 50% were married by the time they turned 18 in 15 districts.
States like West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, and Jharkhand
are among those represented by these 15 districts.

According to the evaluation, Puducherry, Delhi, and Tamil Nadu are the states
with the highest scores on "personal freedom and choice," each receiving a
score of 86.2. (82.5). 68.1 is the overall average across all states and UTs. With
scores above the national average, more than 19 states and UTs can be
considered to be relatively open, allowing people to participate in
socioeconomic activities and make personal decisions. The lowest-scoring
states were Bihar (42.8), Gujarat (49.6), and Maharashtra (50.3).

Balod district in Chhattisgarh received the highest score, 90.8, thanks to the fact
that it has one of the lowest percentages of women who were married before the
age of 18 (3.3%) as well as 83.5% of women who use family planning methods.

The percentage of women aged 20 to 24 who were married before the age of 18
reduced from 26.8% in 2015–16 to 23.3% in 2019–21, according to the report,
which uses NFHS-4 and 5 data to illustrate the progress made in reducing the
problem of child marriages.

REFERENCES-

https://m.economictimes.com/news/india/child-marriage-20-of-women-in-20-
24-age-group-married-before-the-age-of-18-report-finds/articleshow/
96416424.cms