Juvenile convict to be lodged in NGO, closely monitored

Women and Child Development minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi had recently  stressed on the need to “watch him (the juvenile) closely” even after being released. “Wherever he goes an eye should be kept on him for at least a couple of years,” she had said.

Sources said, “The juvenile after finishing his sentence will be placed with an NGO where he is expected to be monitored. He might also receive vocational training at the NGO.” Outrage over his release had the government exploring legal options on whether he could be charged under the National Security Act and kept in jail longer. These developments have come in, after Maneka wrote to the Home Ministry demanding that those accused of sexual abuse and having served a sentence, should be monitored after their release. “You know the issue is not that of a particular individual, the point is that I have written to the Home Ministry saying that there should a tweaking of the law in which every person accused of sexual abuse, who has served time and has come out should have to report to the police station and be monitored,” she explained. According to a senior official, Maneka has sought that a registry of sexual offenders be maintained and put in the public domain.

Nirbhaya’s parents had recently demanded that the face of the juvenile, who was considered the “most brutal” of all the six offenders, should be made public before he is released as “he is a threat to society.” The parents also have made representations to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Home Minister Rajnath Singh stating that the juvenile is a threat to the life and liberty of the common man and that there should be a mechanism to keep a strict check on him. Based on their complaint, the NHRC had issued notices to the Centre and Delhi government.

WCD Ministry on Thursday asked the Law Ministry to initiate mandatory registration of sex offenders by the local police to keep them under surveillance and called for the enactment of a law for the same, ahead of the release of the juvenile later this month. “In cases where the accused are convicted for committing heinous crimes, the orders of the court may also include mandatory requirement of registration of the accused in local police station so that police can monitor their activities and keep track of their movements,” wrote Maneka in a letter to the Law Ministry. She has suggested that the offenders of heinous crimes should be mandated to provide their personal details to the local law enforcement agency on a regular basis.