Juveniles as young as 10 to be on sex offenders registry?

NEW DELHI: Child sex offenders, irrespective of age, could be part of a national database on sex offenders soon. Union minister Maneka Gandhi wants juvenile delinquents convicted of sexual offences, even those as young as 10 or 12-year-olds, to be included in a national sexual offenders' register.

Gandhi, who holds charge of the ministry of women and child development ministry, met Union home minister Rajnath Singh this week to discuss the proposal. "I have suggested two things, one that all sex offenders-- even if he is 10 years old-- should be listed in a registry for sexual offenders. Also once they are let loose he should have to report to the police where he is, and a watch should be kept on him for the rest of his life. He should report to the police every month, he should be required to say where he is working, where he is traveling,'' Gandhi said. The proposal comes a day before the juvenile accused in the Nirbhaya gangrape is scheduled to be set free.

Citing international precedent the minister said that sex offenders world over were kept under surveillance. The home ministry has planned an online database that will be accessible to the public through a citizen portal through the crime and criminal tracking network and systems ( CCTNS) project. The project is expected to be completed by 2017. The idea seems inspired from the US which has a similar national sex offender public website.

Gandhi however said that the names and addresses of juvenile delinquents should not be made public. ``These should only be available to law enforcement agencies,'' the minister said.

Gandhi had earlier written to law minister Sadananda Gowda seeking directions to the court for surveillance of sex offenders till such time as a law has been put in place. There has been no word from either the home or the law minister so far.