Paper short abstract:

In the post Nirbhaya episode figure of ‘criminal child’ pervades the public psyche of mainstream Indian society. Various legislative reformulations have followed. Such state efforts have been termed ‘step back in time’ by UNICEF India. Its meaning in terms of politics of childhood remains important.

Paper long abstract:

Increasing number of reported incidents of crime perpetrated by legal minors within the Indian juvenile justice system draws attention in recent times. Such official statistics paired with incidents like the New Delhi Nirbhaya episode of gang rape and murder of a young woman in 2012 has brought forth the figure of the 'criminal child' in public imagination. Involvement of a legal minor as a perpetrator in this incident led to an unforseen public outcry in India towards gender justice and stricter legal provisions. One such legal formulation includes the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014 which proposes that persons above the age of 16 are liable to be tried at adult courts given the seriousness of crime. UNICEF India has promptly critiqued this formulation as a 'step back in time' in keeping with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This paper attempts to interrogate connotation of the 'criminal child' within the discourse of childhood especially in terms of constructions of childhood/deviance. An engagement with reported cases of sexual offences within the Indian juvenile justice system brings forth larger dynamics of Indian society within the domain of childhood. In this, social profile of the 'criminal child' from marginal locations of society establishes him as deviant. His deviance is pathologised to be a social condition related to poverty and lack of education. This puts in perspective a relation of the 'criminal child' with the politics of children and young people in development.