Three juveniles in conflict with the law are finding it difficult to reintegrate into society after being released on bail from a correctional home in Kerala.
Classes at the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School (GVHSS) in Thamarassery, Kozhikode, have been disrupted over protests by parents, teachers and the management over the admission of three students to Class XI.
The trio were among a group of five students who had allegedly assaulted their tuition mate, Mohammed Shahbaz, in Kozhikode district on February 23 over an inter-school rivalry. Shahbaz, a student of Class X at Muhammedali Jauhar Higher Secondary School (MJHSS), succumbed to his injuries on March 1. The post-mortem revealed the cause of his death as a skull fracture and brain injury.
The five accused students of GVHSS were taken into custody and lodged at the juvenile home in Vellimadukunnu. Kerala High Court allowed them to appear for the Class X exams, in which all of them secured good marks.
On June 5, the high court directed their release from custody to facilitate their Class XI admission, but returning to the mainstream has been fraught with difficulties for three of the accused.
“Two of them got admitted to Class XI at separate schools in Kozhikode. The remaining three were admitted to a school at Puthuppady near Thamarassery, 4km from where the incident had occurred. However, stiff opposition from students, parents and several department officials forced them out of the school. They returned to their previous school, GVHSS, where the situation remains the same,” a government official said on condition of anonymity.
Senior lawyer J. Sandhya accused the authorities, who were supposed to ensure that the juvenile offenders were given a shot at reformation, of dereliction of duty.
“By denying them education, society is only pushing them back to nursing grudges which should be prevented. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, emphasises the right to education for all children, including those in conflict with the law and those in need of care and protection. With all due respect to Shahbaz, whose life was nipped in the bud, the accused juveniles’ rights also have to be protected,” Sandhya said.
M.K. Muneer, the Indian Union Muslim League MLA from Kozhikode South, told
this newspaper that he had tried his best to address the complex issue.
“I was cornered by the parents, students and also by a section of teachers when I stood up for the juveniles’ education at GVHSS, which comes under my constituency. I have asked the protesters to give a representation to the education minister and the state government. The juvenile offenders have expressed their desire to study further,” Muneer, social justice minister in the previous UDF government, said.