Saving our children

Last week, a 16-year-old tribal girl in Sitling, in the western district of Dharmapuri, was raped by two boys from the same village as she went out to the fields to answer nature’s call. Five days later, the young girl died in the government hospital in Dharmapuri. Both the victim and her parents had struggled to register a complaint, and by their account, had to run from pillar to post and pay a bribe for the police to do so. Several days later, a team of activists who went on a field visit to inquire into the case found personal effects of the girl at the same spot, exposed to the elements, unclaimed by the police, though it did seem to them that it would serve as crucial evidence.

The Dharmapuri case has emerged as a classic representation of the threats children in the State face and indicates a measure of the State’s initial response to such heinous crimes. Violence against children takes various forms – physical and mental torture, sexual abuse, neglect – and can be perpetrated by a wide range of people the child comes into contact with, including parents, teachers, caregivers, peers and strangers.

Ahead of the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse (November 19), it behoves the State, especially one that has witnessed a series of gross assaults on children over the last year, to take stock of the safety mechanisms it has in place to ensure the protection of children against any kind of abuse. While the State is a significant institution, the welfare of the children rests with other institutions — the family, society and schools — and spreading awareness among them is key.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that globally, up to 1 billion children aged 2-17 years have experienced physical, sexual, emotional violence or neglect in the past year, and warns that experiencing violence in childhood has a lifelong impact on health and well-being. In 2012, 9,500 children and adolescents were killed in India, representing 10% of all children globally and making India the third largest contributor to child homicide after Nigeria and Brazil (WHO 2014, Global Health Estimates). In fact, one of the targets of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development is to “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against, and torture of, children”.

Rising trend

“One of the theories going around,” says Girija Kumarababu, honorary secretary, Indian Council for Child Welfare, “is that we are seeing a lot more cases these days because of increased awareness about POCSO and better access to media. It may be true, it needs to be examined. However, to me, there is definitely an increasing trend of violence against children, and each case is more and more gruesome.” She goes on to add: “To me it seems as if the perpetrators are challenging the State, cocking a snook at all child rights activists.”

She makes the point that violence against children cannot be seen in isolation from the other social dynamics. “For instance, caste-related crimes are increasing in Tamil Nadu, and much of this is manifesting as violence against children. Then, availability of proper sanitation facilities, for instance, would have helped prevent the rape at Sitling. Migration, urban-rural divide, sending children to school – are issues that render children vulnerable and we need to address them when we talk of protecting children.”

In R. Vidyasagar’s mind there is no doubt whatsoever that the number of cases of extreme violence against children in the State has been increasing. He served for many years as a child protection specialist with Unicef, and now uses his expertise to help multiple organisations working with children. “In reality, no day passes when cases are not being reported.” A question that he raises begs an answer: What are the various child protection structures present in the State, child protection units, juvenile police stations, women police stations doing to pre-emptively prevent such crimes? “They only react after a case has been registered, and even there, there is a question of lack of sensitivity and great reluctance to register a complaint.”

Elusive compensation

While the lack of sensitivity by the police comes up often in public discourse, not many are even aware that the law provides for the victim – financially, by way of an interim compensation. Does this actually work in practice? Responses sought under the RTI Act by an activist indicate that of all the cases in 11 districts which had been committed to the court under the POCSO Act, a shockingly low number of the victims involved have received an interim compensation.

The rules of the Act mandate that interim compensation can be given if the victim or someone on his or her behalf files an application. An order for interim compensation can also be passed by the court on its own. Additionally, data was also sought for the cases where a judgment of acquittal was given and the court recommended an award of compensation as well as when the accused was discharged.

The data shows that while there have been nearly 2,000 cases committed to court from 2012 in most of these districts, there are only 40 cases where the victims have been awarded compensation. The interim compensation is awarded with the aim of meeting the immediate needs of the child for relief or rehabilitation at any stage after filing the FIR.

"The importance of the interim compensation to families is overlooked. When parents who are daily wage earners have to accompany their children for the legal proceedings, a day of work missed means that they will have to struggle for food. There are a lot of health expenses involved as well," said Vidya Reddy, co-founder of Tulir: Centre for prevention and healing of child sexual abuse.

She recounts a case in 2016 where a young girl was raped by the watchman of the building where her mother used to work as a domestic help. “The mother's employment was affected, and living in a suburb of the city, she had to travel long distances with the child for the legal proceedings. It is cases like this especially, where an interim compensation is useful,” she adds.

She points out that POCSO rules clearly state that the interim compensation can be awarded anytime after the registration of an FIR, which is an extremely critical time for the family and the victim. “When the rules clearly specify when and how the compensation can be granted, why is there so much apathy and ignorance,” she questions.

Also, under the POCSO Act, an FIR should be filed against the police and any official delaying the reporting of a crime, or filing of an FIR. "In the State, there has not been a single case where an FIR has been filed against the police for delaying or refusing to file an FIR under the POCSO Act," says Henri Tiphagne, a human rights lawyer and activist.

POCSO in T.N.

In Tamil Nadu, there have been 1,110 cases registered under the POCSO Act till August 2018. While Chennai alone has had 119 cases, the south cluster of districts including Madurai, Virudhunagar, Theni, Kanniyakumari, Ramnathapuram and Sivaganga have seen nearly 354 cases being registered .

In a meeting earlier this month, R.G. Anand, a member of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), pointed out that the Tamil Nadu government had been extremely proactive in implementing preventive measures against child abuse.

M.P. Nirmala, Chairperson of the SCPCR, said that the committee is planning to organise a statewide workshop on the POCSO Act and its implementation.

Doubly disadvantaged

If being a child or a woman increases one’s vulnerability to abuse, then being disabled further enhances helplessness, says persons with disability. In an independent study carried out by the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently-Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC), there have been 10 incidents of sexual assault against women and children with disabilities in the last one year.

“Of this, six cases involve children with disabilities. When it is someone who is disabled who has been sexually assaulted, we feel that the police and the government are extremely lethargic and don’t act as swiftly,” alleged S. Namburajan, General Secretary, TARATDAC. The association has submitted a representation to the Chief Minister urging for the 10 cases to be looked into. It has also called for creating awareness programmes for those implementing the Act.

Apart from awareness and sensitisation of the police force and the lower and higher judiciary, activists are calling for training medical professionals too, as a substantial part of how the case fares in court depends on the medical reports they file. “There are protocols in place that one can follow to prepare medical reports, so that courts will not throw out cases for lack of evidence. We desperately need to improve the conviction rates in crimes against children, specially those of sexual abuse,” says Ms. Kumarababu.

The POCSO Act was passed with the intent of effectively addressing the heinous crimes of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children through less ambiguous and more stringent legal provisions. In reality, there has hardly been any deterrence in the implementation

of the law. A large number of cases of crimes against children in Tamil Nadu also invoke the POCSO Act, as they involve sexual abuse.

Mr. Vidyasagar says death penalty will further endanger effective implementation, and victims, under pressure from perpetrators, might even turn hostile. The State needs to ensure that people know it means business when it sets out to claim that it will protect children from all kinds of abuse, by demonstrating its intent with meticulous investigations, due diligence and following through with convictions in court. Otherwise, neither the State nor the law will make any difference to the children of the state.

1: Thanjavur

Date: October 24

Crime: a 14 year old girl had been subject to repeated sexual assault from a minor boy over a period of time, four others including a woman had tortured her by trying her to a tree as well as inflicting burn injuries

Accused: Four persons remanded, minor boy sent to a juvenile home

Statue of Case: Bail denied for four accused

Compensation: Nil

2. Thalavaipatti, Salem

Date:  October 23

Crime: A 14 year old Dalit girl was beheaded,

Accused: Dinesh Kumar, was detained under the Goondas act

Statue of case: Chargesheet prepared

Compensation: District administration has given first installment under the Victim compensation fund, of Rs 4.12 lakhs.

3. Kurumpatti, Pudukottai

Date: October 25

Crime: 4-year-old girl found dead after an alleged human sacrifice ritual

Accused: Chinappilai, a soothsayer who is the victim's neighbour

Statue of case: Awaiting chemical analysis report before filing of chargesheet

Compensation: Nil

4. Sipling Village, Harur

Date: November 10

Crime: 16 year old raped by two men, dies three days later in a hospital

Accused: Sathish arrested, Ramesh surrenders

Statue of case: Accused remanded, witness testimonies being taken, enquiry by RDO going on.

Compensation: Nil

5. Aynavaram, Chennai

Date: July 18

Crime: 11 year old girl with hearing impairment sexually assaulted for six months from January to July at her apartment complex

Accused: 17 suspects, working as service staff in the apartment

Statue of case:  Prosecution to begin on November 27

Compensation: Refused to receive interim compensation under POCSO rules but accepted Rs 2.25 lakh in two unrelated cases.

6. Kolapakkam, Chennai

Date: July 26

Crime: Parents protest following allegations of sexual abuse of their children in the campus of a private school

Accused: Bhaskar, a van attendent arrested and released on conditional bail

Statue of case: two complaints have been registered with the city police

Compensation: Nil

7. Guduvancherry, Kancheepuram

Date: September 18

Crime: 14 year old girl raped over a period of time, found to be four months pregnant after which grandmother lodges a complaint

Accused: Three men Parama Sivan, Chidambaram and Shankar arrested

Statue of case: Chargesheet is being readied

Compensation: Nil

8. Kundrathur, Kancheepuram

Date:  September 1

Crime: Siblings, aged 4 and 7 poisoned and found dead in their house

Accused: 25 year old Abhirami who is the mother of the children and her friend Sundaram

Statue of case: Both have been remanded to judicial custody

Compensation: Nil

(Inputs from P.V. Srividya)