Treat rape accused juveniles at par with adults: Maneka Gandhi

New Delhi: Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi favoured treating juveniles accused of heinous crimes like rape on par with adult offenders. [caption id=“attachment_1617895” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Maneka Gandhi. AFP.[/caption] Speaking to reporters here, she said according to the police, 50 per cent of all sexual crimes were committed by “16-year-olds who know the Juvenile Justice Act so they can do it.” “But now for premeditated murder, rape, if we bring them into the purview of the adult world, then it will scare them,” she said. Former minister Krishna Tirath during the previous UPA regime had proposed that juveniles above 16 years guilty of heinous crimes be treated on par with adult offenders. PTI