Juvenile Crime Alert

(Baonghean)Currently, the situation of minors violating the law and committing crimes in our province is on the rise in terms of the number of cases, the number of subjects and the level of danger. "If there are no timely measures to educate and prevent, crimes among minors will increase and become more and more dangerous" - that is the warning of Colonel Nguyen Viet Hoa - Head of PC45, Nghe An Police.

It can be said that juvenile crimes in recent years in the province are very diverse and complicated. According to preliminary statistics of the Department of Criminal Investigation and Social Order (PC 45) of the Provincial Police, in 2011, there were 53 criminal cases in the province with 71 juvenile offenders; then in the first 7 months of 2012, there were 39 criminal cases with 43 juvenile offenders. It is worth mentioning that, although they have not yet reached adulthood, the subjects have had cunning, reckless and daring criminal methods.



Phan Van Quang (born 1996) and the scene of the murder he committed.

The murder that occurred on the evening of August 6, 2012, in Hamlet 1, Quynh Tam Commune (Quynh Luu) is still haunting and shocking to the local people. Just because he could not sell his old phone at the price he wanted to Mr. Nguyen Van Lang, Phan Van Quang (born in 1996), residing in Hamlet 9, Quynh Chau Commune, Quynh Luu, had a cruel intention of revenge. Quang took a sickle and went to Mr. Lang's house to ask him to take the car. When they reached a deserted area, Quang used the sickle from behind to cut Mr. Lang's neck, causing Mr. Lang to lose two fingers and later die. The next morning, Quang still went to herd cows as usual. When the forensic doctor arrived at the scene, Quang and everyone else came to watch and even laughed as if nothing happened. According to investigation, when he was in 8th grade for less than 3 months, Quang dropped out of school, then became friends with bad guys, petty thieves in the village, stole motorbikes to sell for money and finally killed someone without mercy.

Recently, on August 12, 2012, Nguyen Trong Thinh (born in 1999, residing in Block 4, Tan Ky Town) took advantage of the negligence of Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang's family living in the same block and sneaked into Ms. Trang's house to steal property. When discovered, Thinh used a knife to repeatedly slash Ms. Trang's head and body, causing her to have a fractured skull, a severed finger, and a severed elbow tendon, in order to steal a cell phone to sell for money to spend and play games.

On July 3, 2012, Nam Dan District Police urgently arrested Mai Van Cuong (born in 1997, residing in Nam Thanh Commune) for the act of "child rape". On the morning of June 28, Mai Van Cuong invited a girl living nearby (born in 2003) to go catch snails, then took her to the field, dragged her into an abandoned house and used force to rape her.

Previously, on June 23, 2011, the Provincial Police Department discovered 3 subjects (including 2 minors) illegally using crystal meth in a hotel in Hung Binh Ward (Vinh City). Through investigation, the subjects confessed that they had come to Vinh City since February 2011, rented a hotel, organized drug use, and committed more than 10 robberies in Vinh City.

Statistics from PC45 Department, Provincial Police show that in previous years, juvenile crimes often focused on the group of crimes of "property theft", "disturbing public order", "intentionally causing injury"... However, in recent years, crimes in this age group have changed significantly, revealing many concerns for society when they are often related to cases of "rape", "murder", "drug use".

Speaking to reporters, Master, Lawyer Nguyen Trong Hai (Le Tran Law Office - Nghe An Bar Association) said: From statistics nationwide, in the province and the practice of participating in criminal proceedings in cases where the defendant is a minor, we see that the number of serious and especially serious cases committed by minors is increasing rapidly and becoming more and more complicated. Through studying the files, through the statements of the defendants and related people, the main cause of crime comes from the influence of violent games, obscene movies... Besides that, there are the impacts of the market economy, the decline in morality as well as the propaganda, dissemination and education of the law that are not really effective. In many court sessions, some juvenile criminals are surprised by the punishment given to them, because they never thought that when they committed a crime with that behavior, they would have to receive such a sentence.

Mr. Bui Quoc Dung - Head of the Department of Child Protection and Care of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said: Adolescence is a transitional period from children to adults. Therefore, the psychology of this "transitional" age has a great impact on their behavior. Meanwhile, in many families, children are beaten, insulted, despised and even abandoned, while some well-off families pamper their children too much, their children get whatever they want, their children drop out of school, follow bad friends without their parents knowing... These are potential risks for juvenile crime.

Faced with that situation, to prevent crimes among minors, more than ever, there needs to be a close connection between family - school - society to educate and guide children to have correct awareness and appropriate behavior. Parents must be close, caring, sharing their children's thoughts and feelings, promptly correcting their deviant thoughts and behaviors. Along with that, mass organizations need to promote their role to attract children to useful activities in the community, equipping them with knowledge about life skills, helping them to be resistant to social evils.

Duc Chuyen