Held For Stealing, Minor Boy Gets A Rare Treatment From Nalanda Court

The direction was made by Judicial Officer Manvendra Mishra who noted that the boy was forced to commit theft, in order to support his starving family during the lockdown.

The Boy told the court that he worked in the unorganized sector. However due to the lockdown, he was unable to feed his mentally unsound widow mother and younger brother and was thus forced to commit theft.

Taking note of these submissions, the court ordered the Police to release him forthwith and to provide food and clothes for both him and his family. Further the court directed the block development officer to help him to get an Aadhar card and family's ration card.

The court also ordered the BDO to assist the widowed mother of the boy to get registered under the Widow Pension Scheme of the state government and to ensure that funds are allotted to his family under the government's housing scheme for the poor.

An action taken report for the same has to be placed before the court within four months.

He had been detained at the direction the Juvenile Justice Board in Bihar Sharif area for snatching the purse of a woman in the marketplace.

"The main objective behind the whole exercise is to provide opportunities to the minors booked on petty offences to mend their ways. If they were sent to remand homes, there are chances of falling into bad company and thus turning them into big criminals," a judicial staffer posted at the Bihar Sharif Court told TOI