Highlighting that only circumstances like poverty and lack of parental care made juveniles to come in conflict with law, L.S. Sathiyamurthy, Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Madurai, said that only rehabilitative measures and value-based education could prevent such instances.
Speaking at a session as part of the three-day skill development programme organised by the District Child Protection Unit for juveniles in conflict with law on Friday, the CJM pointed out that the juvenile jurisprudence in the country also focussed on preventive and rehabilitative measures for juveniles instead of punitive action.
Stating that the society also had a crucial role to play in rehabilitating the juveniles in conflict with law, he said, “Many have a wrong perception that these youngsters are ‘useless.’ However, the society should realise that they are not useless but ‘used less’ and that is why they went in the wrong path.”
Arguing that even sage Valmiki, who, according to mythology, committed offences as an adolescent, delivered the epic Ramayana, he said that there were several cases even from the observation home for juveniles in conflict with law in Madurai, in which several teenagers scored high marks in school with the right guidance from officials.
As part of his speech, the CJM also read out a poem in Tamil to drive home his point that juveniles in conflict with law were not to be treated as fallen leaves but as saplings that would grow into shade-giving trees.
The programme was earlier inaugurated on Thursday by Madurai Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao in the presence of Principal District Judge R. Tharani and Principal Magistrate of Juvenile Justice Board R. Gayathri Devi.