-The Telegraph Guwahati: A national study on drug abuse among children has found Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram having the highest percentage of heroin, inhalants and injectable drug users respectively. The study, conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, New Delhi, in 27 states and two Union territories, found that 88.6 per cent children drug users interviewed in Mizoram used injectable drugs while 68.3 per...

-Outlook   The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights today sought the views of NGOs, working for child rights, on Women and Child Development Ministry's proposal to treat youngsters above 16 years of age guilty of heinous crimes on par with adult offenders. NCPCR chairperson Kushal Singh held a meeting with 40 NGOs which voiced their concern about the Ministry's seeking an amendment in the Juvenile Justice Act according to which youngsters...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Nearly a year after the role of a Juvenile in the gang-rape of Nirbhaya triggered a storm of outrage while the crime itself led to widespread street protests, the government has proposed that youngsters above 16 years of age guilty of heinous crimes be treated on par with adult offenders. The decision to amend the existing law so that provisions of the Indian Penal Code relating...

-The Hindu While the Delhi rape incident saw mass protests for justice, crimes against Dalits hardly evoke such outrage, which is why the killers in the Laxmanpur-Bathe massacre have got away The response by the state to the 2012 Delhi gang rape case was immediate and effective - a commission to review legislative protections and recommend amendments, and a new enactment. The judiciary responded similarly - death penalty for the accused and...

-The Hindu Equating Juveniles with adult criminals is neither scientifically correct nor normatively defensible The August 31 verdict of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in the Delhi gang rape case, handing down a bare three-year custodial sentence to the Juvenile member, has generated a fresh round of debate on the legality and desirability of Juvenile justice itself: why should Juveniles above 16 indulging in violent crimes not be treated as adult criminals?...