Naveen Verma, Jagran, Mandi, Dhanaura. In recent times, there has been a continuous increase in incidents of theft by child molesters in the district, due to which the feeling of insecurity among the common people is deepening. Police investigation has revealed that teenagers in the age group of nine to 16 years are committing crimes like theft due to their small needs, lack of pocket money and drug addiction. Involvement of child molesters has been found in many theft incidents in the last two months.
These cases have come to light not only in Mandi Dhanaura but across the district. Within the last two months, child molesters have been caught not only in two major incidents of theft in Mandi Dhanaura. In fact, he has been involved in the past also. Child abusers have been involved in five incidents of theft in Gajraula and Hasanpur areas.
Similarly, in Amroha Nagar and Naugawan Sadat, child molesters were caught in four incidents of theft. Along with stealing things from homes, these teenagers also steal donation boxes from temples. Everyone was caught through CCTV footage.
The police, while showing proactivity, have caught the child molesters involved in all such cases and sent them to a juvenile home, so that they can be brought back in the right direction. Despite this, people need to remain alert. Police also say that the security of houses, shops, vehicles and religious places should be strengthened and any suspicious activities should be immediately reported to the police.
Case 1 -: On September 12, thieves had raided Navadurga Temple and Radha Krishna Temple in the town late at night. Thieves had stolen cash by breaking donation boxes kept in the temple premises. The incident came to light when the priest reached the temple in the morning. The police exposed the case and arrested three child molesters involved in it and sent them to a juvenile home.
Case 2 -: On December 19, a sensational incident of theft of cash worth Rs 4 lakh kept in a bag by breaking the glass of CA's car came to light. With the help of CCTV cameras, the police identified two child molesters who committed the crime and arrested them. The police have also recovered all the stolen cash. A report was registered against the accused and they were sent to a juvenile home.
Different rules on child molesters below and above 10 years of age
Inspector in-charge Balendra Kumar said that in the cases of child molesters, different procedures are followed depending on the age. If in any incident a child molester below the age of 10 years is caught, he is sent to a juvenile home for reformation, but during this time no criminal record of his is permanently registered.
Its objective is to save young children from the image of criminals and return them to the mainstream. Whereas if the age of the child molester is found to be more than 10 years, then the police keeps the complete details of the incident committed by him safe in its records. This record becomes the basis for action if found involved in any incident again in future.
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