Juvenile violence on rise in Odisha! 

A 17-year-old boy stabbed a student of a degree college to death Kairansi village under Khallikote Police limits on Tuesday. What was very disconcerting about the incident was that the juvenile delinquent committed the crime after returning from a Bal Sudhar Gruha (juvenile home/borstal for young offenders). People were shocked by such an incident. 

The deceased has been identified as Rajesh Das, a first-year student of a Degree college. He was on his way to buy medicines for his ailing mother when the juvenile killed him. This was stated to be an act of vengeance. The murder was linked to a fight among five minor boys over a cricket match organised in the village six months ago.  

Rachana Das, sister of the deceased lamented, "They had a fight five months ago and one of them killed my bother.” 

Police said that after returning from the correctional facility, the juvenile stabbed the youth to death to take revenge. 

Chhatrapur SDPO, Gourahari Sahu said, “The main accused was lodged in the Bal Sudhar Gruha after committing a crime in 2023. The murder was the fallout of past enmity among them. Both the victim and accused were in Sudhar Gruha.”   

Psychiatrist Sudipta Panigrahi, said "The number of juvenile delinquents is increasing in Odisha. There is a law to prevent juvenile crimes. Juveniles need to get proper counselling at the family level and society level. Teenagers showing an inclination towards violence need psychological counselling.”  

According to the NCRB report, juveniles were involved in 31,170 criminal cases in the country in 2021. However, the rate of juveniles’ involvement in crimes came down slightly in 2022. Maharashtra had the highest number of juveniles in the country in 2022 while Odisha was placed at 10th in the juvenile violence.