IDUKKI: Child rights commission will form a task force in plantation areas of Idukki to inspect the issues of children living there.
According to Geetha MG, Idukki district child protection officer, the task force will work under district collector. The decision to form the state’s first such task force was due to an increasing number of crimes against children in the plantation areas of the district.
“The special task force will inspect several areas such as school dropouts, child marriages, child abuse, child labour, child trafficking, sanitation, drinking water, school facilities among other issues,” said Geetha.
“A meeting for the task force formation was held at Vandiperiyar on October 1. We hope child rights commission will conduct a meeting with Idukki district collector and take a final decision to include officials from various sections in the task force,” she added.
According to various officials, there has been a rise in crimes against children in plantation areas after the lockdown period. A six-year-old girl at Churakkulam estate lane was found hanging inside her house on June 30. Initial reports indicated that the girl who was alone accidentally got hung on the rope while playing. However, the autopsy report said that she was subjected to severe sexual abuse for long. The police later arrested Arjun who frequented the house.
On September 30, a 14-year-old girl was sexually abused by an autorickshaw driver in the plantation area of Anayirankal. The girl’s parents are plantation workers and she was abused after the parents left for work in the morning.
“As school are not functional, students are alone at home in the plantation areas, and it poses a security threat to them,” said a police officer.
State child rights commission chairperson K V Manoj Kumar and other members visited the plantation areas of Vandipperiyar and reviewed the living conditions of children there recently. The commission members also visited the Malampandaram tribal community children at Sathram near Vandiperiyar.
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