Juvenile centres becoming unsafe as reform stalls

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 24: At least 49 juvenile inmates in the Jayandu Juvenile Correction Centre in Duduwa Rural Municipality of Banke district were injured in a clash among themselves on the night of March 14.

Last year alone, one inmate had died in Jayandu Correction Centre during a brawl between the inmates of two groups. Additionally, in July of the same year, 60 children fled from the centre.

This is the fifth incident in the Jayandu Correction Centre in the last two years. As many as 255 juvenile inmates are housed there at present. But as of February 11, 2025, as per the Prison Department's record, Jayandu Correction Centre has just 67 juveniles.

“Not just here, every correction centre has the same problem. No place is functioning peacefully,” Dharma Raj Joshi, Chief District Officer in Banke, told The Rising Nepal on Sunday. 

On August 21, 2024, as many as 297 juvenile inmates at the Underprivileged Children’s Educational Programmes in Bhaktapur clashed with security personnel, leaving 20 police officials and 15 juvenile inmates injured. The juveniles clashed with the police after one of the minors died in mysterious circumstances.

They not only clashed with the Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel but as many as 221 fled the centre, breaking its gate and compound wall. 

Three weeks later, on September 12, inmates from a juvenile centre in Birta of Birgunj Metropolitan City clashed among themselves.

A group of inmates transferred from the juvenile centre in Sanothimi, Bhaktapur had physically assaulted their leader. Some minors from Bhaktapur were transferred to Birgunj after the clash that injured 20 security personnel and 15 inmates.

Juvenile centres house children below 18 years who are convicted or are kept in custody for their involvement in crimes.

“We are worried about the occurrence of such incidents. However, they will not stop unless we revise the existing laws and manage the centres properly by arranging spacious areas and tightening security measures,” said CDO Joshi.

A juvenile delinquent is a person who is under the age of 18 and commits an act that otherwise would have been charged as a crime if s/he was an adult. The minors, who commit a crime punishable by law, are kept in correction homes instead of being sent to jail after the court verdict, as per the existing Act Relating to Children 2018.

Those who cross 18 years of age before completing their jail terms too are kept in correction homes with minors until they serve the specified term.

Officials say the inmates who are above 18 years of age are violating the rules and pose a security threat. 

Several field studies, including CWIN's report prepared last year after conducting onsite visits of eight correction centres suggested the government to immediately start the process of revising the law ensuring that those above 18 years of age are kept separately. 

Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission, following frequent incidents of violence and clashes, conducted monitoring visits to all correction homes across the country.

The country has a total of nine juvenile correction centres right now—in Bhaktapur, Morang, Kaski, two in Banke (Duduwa and Naubasta area), Makwanpur, Doti, Parsa and Rupandehi. 

Studies by the CWIN, NHRC and other human rights organisations suggest that conditions in these correction centres are as dire as those in ordinary prisons. They lack basic amenities and are overcrowded.

The report of CWIN highlights several issues contributing to conflicts within the correction homes, including overcrowding, housing youths up to 26 years of age along with minors who tend to defy the rules.

According to Basu Adhikari, coordinator of CWIN, Morang, keeping older youths together with minors results in breach of rules by the older ones, giving rise to conflicts. He said that this issue has particularly affected correction homes in Banke, Parsa and Bhaktapur.

Adhikari said that the findings and suggestions had already been submitted to the Department of Prison Management and the Ministry of Home Affairs, and also to the provincial government, highlighting both immediate and long-term plans for implementation. 

Revising laws and upgrading the present condition of correction centres only can help reduce repeated brawls and violence in the correction centres, he said.  

Advocacy Forum Nepal, which conducted a situation analysis of several correction centres two years ago, had also pointed out that the centres are overcrowded and the food and water provided to the inmates are substandard. It also pointed out that there is no proper treatment for ailing inmates and they also lack guidance. 

However, adequate measures have not been taken to improve the condition of these correction centres yet.

According to the data of the Department of Prison Management, as of mid-February 2025, there are a total of 1,359 juveniles in nine correction centres. Of them, 767 were male and 21 were female inmates; 556 male remands and 15 female remands). Of the total inmates, the highest number was in Bhaktapur with 256, followed by 249 in Morang.