After completing his class 10 exams, Shubham Shirke, 15, was getting ready to celebrate. On March 31, he was allegedly abducted and killed by three classmates. The crime has shocked residents of the western city of Pune, especially after police said the three accused - two minors and a 19-year-old - made repeated calls for ransom even after Shirke was dead.
According to police, the three boys received 15,000 rupees (300 dollars) from Shirke's father and assured him that he would soon see his son. The youth were arrested Sunday under suspicion of kidnapping and murder. Police said the three showed little remorse, and claimed that they confessed to being inspired by crime shows on television. They wanted to "go to parties and discos and have fun with the money," police said.
A spate of crimes, allegedly committed by juveniles, has caused alarm in many cities including national capital New Delhi. Children have been arrested for robbery, theft, rape and murder. Juvenile crime has increased from 9,267 reported cases in 2000, to more than 22,740 reported cases in 2012, according to Akhilesh Kumar, chief statistical officer at the National Crime Records Bureau.
The actual numbers may be much higher, as less than 10 per cent of cases are believed to be registered. "Although petty crimes like theft still account for a majority, gruesome crimes such as murder and rape are steadily growing, accounting for 12 per cent of the total juvenile crimes," said Kumar.
Just a week before Shirke's death, a teenager was allegedly kidnapped and killed in the New Delhi suburb of Dwarka by his former classmates. Police said the assailants planned to splurge the ransom money on their girlfriends, bikes and holidays. On February 9, a 15-year-old pupil in the southern city of Chennai, was accused of stabbing his teacher to death because she scolded him for neglecting his studies.
The boy allegedly slashed his teacher's throat and repeatedly stabbed her in front of the class. He was later caught by teachers and fellow pupils and handed over to the police. The teacher died before she could be taken to hospital. Kumar said a surprising trend was that a significant proportion of juvenile accused come from middle-class families - far from the stereotype of crimes only being committed by street children, school dropouts or drug addicts.
Two-thirds of juvenile accused lived with parents, while nearly a third had studied until class eight. Sociologists say there is a perceptible erosion in values amid socio-economic transitions brought on by rapid urbanisation, growing consumerism and the breakdown of the traditional joint family system.
Census 2011 data revealed that Indians now largely live in nuclear families, with 70 per of homes consisting of only one couple. This is a major shift in a country where joint families - parents, their sons' families and often other relatives living under one roof - were the norm just a generation ago. Child psychiatrist Sameer Malhotra said: "Children have somewhere come to believe money is power. They feel the need to spend or own latest gadgets, which makes them feel equal or feel good."
"Then there is peer pressure and behaviour which gives brands and material objects precedence over academic achievements or acquisition of skills." Malhotra said the lack of parental support in nuclear families where both spouses are working was also taking its toll on values.
Besides, minors have increased exposure to violence in movies, television and the internet. "It ... leads them to think it's normal to be violent," he said. "When they see criminals go scot-free in high-profile cases children start to believe might is right. There is an inability to empathise and aggression becomes part of the personality," according to Malhotra.
Amod Kanth, a retired Delhi Police officer who runs the non-profit Prayas, said: "Presently, the community-based correctional and social reintegration provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act are under stringent scrutiny since 42 per cent of India's population happen to be children." He added: "The juvenile justice system will have to be strengthened and implemented appropriately to meet the objectives and the provisions of the current law."