Culture of violence
By Sadaf Modak
The death of Aamir Ahmed, 17, at the David Sassoon Industrial School’s Special Home in Matunga after being severely assaulted by his coinmates and staff over money to buy marijuana has turned the spotlight on the conditions in which the city’s juvenile offenders are kept.
Sources said the Matunga Home is little more than a prison, and inmates are confined almost all day. With the Special Home at Umerkhadi closed by a Bombay High Court order due to its dilapidated condition, options have shrunk.
Adding to this is the growing pendency of cases before the city’s two Juvenile Justice Boards, of which one works only twice a week.
CULTURE OF VIOLENCE
Currently, there are 61 juvenile offenders lodged in two separate cells at Matunga. The Special Home has made temporary provisions to house these children who are kept separate from others.
Under the Juvenile Justice Act, an Observation Home is where children in conflict with law are lodged pending inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board. A Special Home is where children found to have committed an offence after an inquiry by the Board are sent for a maximum of three years for reform.
“For the whole day, the children are kept confined in two rooms. At Umerkhadi, they were allowed a free run of the premises during non-bandi hours. They were all involved in activities like computer training, yoga, literacy classes. Here, they are not engaged in useful activities. It is like a prison,” said a source. Vocational training is given to children in a Special Home, but not to those in an Observation Home, where inmates wait for the inquiry in their cases to be completed to establish if they can be sent for reform.
Staff at the Matunga facility denied the inmates were confined at all times, but said security was inadequate. “We do allow them to come out for a couple of hours every day. The walls are only five feet tall. We cannot take the risk,” said Tushar Bhilavekar, superintendent of the Special Home.
He declined to comment on the incident leading to the inmate’s death, and said they are cooperating with the Shivaji Park police in the investigation. Sources said the incident occurred after three inmates had tried to escape. The caretakers ordered the other inmates to “teach them a lesson”, the source added. “The caretakers appoint monitors to maintain discipline. They allow them to physical assault the younger boys or new entrants,” a parent whose child had spent time in an OH alleged.
The Home structure also creates a hierarchy of violence, with new entrants or younger children at the receiving end. The situation is aggravated when staff ignore the violence deliberately. In the past, authorities have intervened and separated the younger children from older ones based on the former’s complaints.
The current amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act proposed by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare has made a provision for punishing inmates for ragging. Criticising this, child rights activists have called this a punitive step against children, which does not address larger issues like the need for more staff, their training, counselling and adequate infrastructure.
SHRINKING FACILITIES
Over November 14, inmates at the three-storey OH in Umerkhadi were transferred to Matunga on the Bombay HC’s directions. The HC had taken suo motu cognisance of two letters by magistrates warning about the Home’s dilapidated structure. The HC also directed the state government to demolish a dilapidated building adjacent to it.
While the structure has been demolished, reconstruction is yet to begin. “I cannot comment on when the children can be transferred back. Some proposals regarding the reconstruction remain pending.” said SA Jadhav, superintendent of the Umerkhadi Home.
In a hearing in the case in March, the court had directed the state government to submit a response specifying a time frame within which the demolition and reconstruction will take place.
GROWING PENDENCY OF CASES
Two Juvenile Justice Boards, one for each district – Mumbai city and Mumbai suburban – function out of the premises of the Umerkhadi Home. The temporary transfer of the inmates to Matunga has made a journey necessary for hearings.
While the city board functions on a daily basis, the suburban board sits only on Mondays and Wednesdays.
“The suburban board has a larger jurisdiction comprising more police stations than the city board. If the suburban board also works every day, it could lead to speedy disposal of cases,” said advocate Kamlesh Tripathi, who works in the juvenile justice system.
The death of Aamir Ahmed, 17, at the David Sassoon Industrial School’s Special Home in Matunga after being severely assaulted by his coinmates and staff over money to buy marijuana has turned the spotlight on the conditions in which the city’s juvenile offenders are kept.
Sources said the Matunga Home is little more than a prison, and inmates are confined almost all day. With the Special Home at Umerkhadi closed by a Bombay High Court order due to its dilapidated condition, options have shrunk.
They also pointed to the lack of staff at these Homes, and little emphasis on their training, counselling for the inmates and adequate infrastructure.
Adding to this is the growing pendency of cases before the city’s two Juvenile Justice Boards, of which one works only twice a week.
CULTURE OF VIOLENCE
Currently, there are 61 juvenile offenders lodged in two separate cells at Matunga. The Special Home has made temporary provisions to house these children who are kept separate from others.
Under the Juvenile Justice Act, an Observation Home is where children in conflict with law are lodged pending inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board. A Special Home is where children found to have committed an offence after an inquiry by the Board are sent for a maximum of three years for reform.
“For the whole day, the children are kept confined in two rooms. At Umerkhadi, they were allowed a free run of the premises during non-bandi hours. They were all involved in activities like computer training, yoga, literacy classes. Here, they are not engaged in useful activities. It is like a prison,” said a source. Vocational training is given to children in a Special Home, but not to those in an Observation Home, where inmates wait for the inquiry in their cases to be completed to establish if they can be sent for reform.
Staff at the Matunga facility denied the inmates were confined at all times, but said security was inadequate. “We do allow them to come out for a couple of hours every day. The walls are only five feet tall. We cannot take the risk,” said Tushar Bhilavekar, superintendent of the Special Home.
He declined to comment on the incident leading to the inmate’s death, and said they are cooperating with the Shivaji Park police in the investigation. Sources said the incident occurred after three inmates had tried to escape. The caretakers ordered the other inmates to “teach them a lesson”, the source added. “The caretakers appoint monitors to maintain discipline. They allow them to physical assault the younger boys or new entrants,” a parent whose child had spent time in an OH alleged.
The Home structure also creates a hierarchy of violence, with new entrants or younger children at the receiving end. The situation is aggravated when staff ignore the violence deliberately. In the past, authorities have intervened and separated the younger children from older ones based on the former’s complaints.
The current amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act proposed by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare has made a provision for punishing inmates for ragging. Criticising this, child rights activists have called this a punitive step against children, which does not address larger issues like the need for more staff, their training, counselling and adequate infrastructure.
SHRINKING FACILITIES
Over November 14, inmates at the three-storey OH in Umerkhadi were transferred to Matunga on the Bombay HC’s directions. The HC had taken suo motu cognisance of two letters by magistrates warning about the Home’s dilapidated structure. The HC also directed the state government to demolish a dilapidated building adjacent to it.
While the structure has been demolished, reconstruction is yet to begin. “I cannot comment on when the children can be transferred back. Some proposals regarding the reconstruction remain pending.” said SA Jadhav, superintendent of the Umerkhadi Home.
In a hearing in the case in March, the court had directed the state government to submit a response specifying a time frame within which the demolition and reconstruction will take place.
GROWING PENDENCY OF CASES
Two Juvenile Justice Boards, one for each district – Mumbai city and Mumbai suburban – function out of the premises of the Umerkhadi Home. The temporary transfer of the inmates to Matunga has made a journey necessary for hearings.
While the city board functions on a daily basis, the suburban board sits only on Mondays and Wednesdays.
“The suburban board has a larger jurisdiction comprising more police stations than the city board. If the suburban board also works every day, it could lead to speedy disposal of cases,” said advocate Kamlesh Tripathi, who works in the juvenile justice system.
