Growing pains: City criminals getting younger

NEW DELHI: The criminal mind appears to be getting younger. The number of people aged between 20 and 30, who are being arrested for cases of robbery, dacoity and auto theft, has risen sharply.
The stats say it all. In 2000, 23 individuals aged between 20 and 30 were arrested for robbery. In 2004, the figure was 123. Just 35 people from the relevant age group were arrested for auto theft in 2000; it rose to 802 last year.
According to the police, psychiatrists and criminologists alike, this is a dangerous trend."Crime is catching them young. The new brigade is not hard-core criminals — most are first-timers doing it for a lark," says Nimish Desai, professor of psychiatry and medical superintendent, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences. “It can also be a manifestation of restlessness of today''s youth and their increased pleasure-seeking and materialistic tendencies."
Shubhra Sanyal, senior faculty member of the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences, believes that if ''young criminals'' are not deterred at an early stage, they will get conditioned to crime. "The increasing tilt of youngsters towards crime is a form of attention-seeking behaviour. Deterrents and social control have weakened," she says.