Over 9,600 children wrongfully incarcerated in adult prisons in India: Study

New Delhi: Children in India are being wrongfully incarcerated with approximately 9,681 children found to have been wrongly held in adult facilities over six years from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2021, a study by indian civil society organisation ‘iProBono’ has revealed. This averages to over 1,600 children being transferred out of prisons annually.

The study is based on the data received through research and government Right to Information (RTI) applications. 

“For six years, I thought the jail would be the end of my life. I lost my childhood,” said Neha, a Child in Conflict with the Law (CCL).

Her ordeal began in April 2018 when she was accused by her father of murdering her mother. At the young age of 17, she fell within the legal classification of a minor under the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act. Despite this, she languished in an adult jail for years before obtaining the relief of bail.

Former Supreme Court Judge and chairperson of the Supreme Court Juvenile Justice Committee Ravindra Bhat, addressing the issue blamed it on the states, saying that states are the “parens patriae” i.e., the legal protector of those who cannot protect themselves. The states have failed because it has been unable to protect the children.

According to the study revealed on Saturday in Delhi, it obtained responses from 50% of the total 570 district and central prisons, revealing alarming gaps in data collection and reporting.

Notably, significant omissions were observed in the responses from states such as Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Nagaland, and Ladakh. Together these regions accounted for missing data from 85 district and central prisons.

“I am surprised to find out how so many children are lodged in jails across India, I feel there are umpteen opportunities for all the stakeholders and the police to find a solution to this,” said Founder General Secretary of Prayas JAC Society Amod Kanth.

Further insights from specific prisons shed light on the duration children spent in custody before being transferred. For instance, data from Jail No. 5 in Central Prison Tihar, Delhi, indicated that out of 730 transferred children over six years, only 22 were held for a week or less, with the majority spending less than three months in detention. 

Similar trends were observed in district prison Jhunjhunu, where out of 16 transferred children, only three spent a week or less in custody.

Arul Varma from the Delhi high court Legal Services Committee said, “It is difficult for the JJBs [Juvenile Justice Boards] to go for regular visits given the number of jails and the overburden of a huge number of cases they have to handle.”

The study also highlighted challenges in obtaining information through the RTI Act. Instances were cited where initial applications were rejected on erroneous grounds, such as disproportionate resource diversion or concerns about impeding investigations, despite not seeking personal details of the children involved.

Concerns were also raised regarding procedural hurdles faced in filing RTI applications, with some rejected due to incorrect format or payment methods. For example, applications in Odisha were initially dismissed for not adhering to the prescribed format, while subsequent attempts were hindered by payment restrictions, including the refusal to accept anything but cash or money orders.

In its press statement, iProbono said that the study examines the effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), which legally mandates that a child alleged to have committed an offence or found guilty of an offence, is to be placed in an appropriate juvenile home.