Crime by youth in 18-22 age group on the rise

They would murder under the slightest provocation, snatch gold chains to splurge on beer and lift bikes to impress friends. When the Greater Chennai police had arrested 275 accused in chain snatching cases in 2015, more than 50 percent of the accused were in the age group of 18 to 22. The number of young accused in cases of bike and car theft were also equally high in Chennai during 2015. 

When it came to revenge murder and altercations, it was once again young criminals who made up in majority. As per police sources, the number of young criminals in Chennai is only going up. On Friday, the JJ Nagar police arrested three bike lifters and found out that the mastermind in the gang was a 19-year-old boy, who took the help of two others, one aged 22 and another 23 to steal the bikes and sell them in Tiruvannamalai. 

“Earlier it used to be only children from the slums, who were exposed to such crimes from a very early age and had learnt to live with it. But now, youth from middle class households are getting involved in such crimes and their numbers are growing,” a senior police official said. In most of the cases of chain snatching and bike lifting, police had found out that the desire to live a luxurious life has been the main reason behind such criminal acts. 

“When we interrogate these youngsters, we realise that they just splurge the money they steal and wants to impress their friends and relatives. If their parents could not afford to or are not willing to splurge money for their children, they look for ways to make easy money,” the official added. 

A week ago, a man was hacked to death in Vyasarpadi for one of the flimsiest of reasons. A group of youngsters, all in the age group of 20-21 hacked him using long knives for a minor altercation they had on the New Year’s eve. “In such cases, Tamil movies play a very important role. These young men are trying to imitate their heroes, where revenge is the norm. They want to be known as the prominent gang members in their area,” another police official who investigated this case said. 

Clinical psychologists find the growing materialism and degradation of family ties as a major reason behind the increase of young criminals. “Most of these children have troubled childhood. They may not have given proper attention and affection by their parents. They also have peer pressure as they see luxury all around and when they cannot get it, they look for other options,” R Manoj, a Chennai-based clinical psychologist said.