A delinquent child is one who is

A delinquent child, or juvenile delinquent, is what the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 calls a "child in conflict with law": under section 2(13), a child alleged or found to have committed an offence who was under eighteen on the date of the offence. Illiteracy, insanity or abandonment does not make a child delinquent; an abandoned child is a child in need of care and protection.