For the love of crime

The very objective of the rehabilitation of juveniles by introducing the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 seems to have failed to achieve its goals as the trend of delinquency amongst many youngsters has not abated.

A classic example came to light when this scribe came across one such child convict, Muhammad Waseem, an 11-year-old pickpocket, presently housed at the Borstal Institution and Juvenile Jail in Faisalabad. He is facing three cases of pickpocketing, but is “still determined to continue his profession”. Waseem alias ‘Khichi’ said, “I plan to resume my ‘profession’ once released from the jail”.

I found him to be a fully satisfied chap with no regrets about the criminal activities in which he had been involved for the last three years. He considered pick-pocketing not only a passion but a source of enjoyment.

According to Waseem, “We used to be brought to a police lockup from Borstal Jail along with diehard criminals undergoing rigorous imprisonment in Central Jail, Faisalabad, and simultaneously faced trials along with other juveniles appearing to court in the same van”.

How much has Waseem reformed during his stint in jail can be observed from an interesting story. Narrating his story and enjoying the conversation thoroughly, he said, “As soon as I entered the court [during one of the hearings], I saw an official presenting a record pertaining to my case standing alongside a rostrum. I detected a purse in his back pocket which was full of money”.

When the judge was in the retiring room, the boy lost no time in picking the official’s wallet. He did not feel ashamed while narrating the whole incident but, instead, rather looked proud over his achievement.

Waseem’s story was an indicator that the Borstal Institution was not playing the designated role of reforming juvenile delinquents and making them useful and productive for society. The record of the Borstal jail revealed that inmates were found repeatedly coming to the jail despite bails and acquittals in previous cases. This is an alarming trend and indicates that the rehabilitation and reformation of juveniles is not giving the desired result.

It is high time sociologists and NGOs came forward and played a meaningful role for the reformation and rehabilitation of the juveniles in order to attain a crime-free society.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2014.