A crumbling system is depriving India's young offenders of a 'second chance'

In India, the juvenile justice system, designed to rehabilitate young offenders, is failing to protect children's rights. The Juvenile Justice Act, intended to provide opportunities for reform and reintegration, is not being properly implemented. A case example is Pooja, a minor accused of murder, who was wrongly imprisoned in an adult facility for six years instead of being processed through the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB). JJBs are also failing to conduct regular prison checks to identify wrongly incarcerated minors. Experts say that thousands of children are being failed by the system, despite amendments to strengthen the Juvenile Justice Act over the past four decades. The system's shortcomings deprive young offenders of the "second chance" the law intends to provide.

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