Judge wants juvenile age bar lowered to 16

Acting Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Justice K Sridhara Rao on Sunday made out a case for reducing the age limit of juveniles from 18 to 16 years.

Answering a query on punishment to juveniles who commit crimes such as rapes, Justice Rao said an amendment to the law in this regard, along with a strong law, would act as a deterrent in controlling crimes committed by adolescents.

He was replying to a query by a participant at the district-level workshop on atrocities and domestic violence against women organised by the District Legal Service Authority in association with the district administration, Zilla Panchayat, Mangalore Bar Association and other government departments.

Justice Rao and other resource persons called upon women to support and help women victims in case of domestic violence. Responding to a question on tackling domestic violence, he said the general notion that ‘woman is the enemy of woman’ was true in most of the cases. The rift between women in houses was acting as an obstacle in controlling domestic violence. Most of the cases are not proved in the court of law for want of evidence.

The women around the victim, including her family members, friends and neighbours do not support the victims of domestic violence, he said.