BHOPAL: Crime cases against children, including rape and molestation, have risen steeply in the city. In the latest case reported at Kamla Nagar police station, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her father's cousin. Many such cases have been reported this year, which suggests that not even the threat of capital punishment for raping a minor can deter the accused.
Child rights activists claim that the situation created by Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the issue even more. Director Childline Archana Sahay said, due to the rise in internet usage during pandemic, children and adolescents are more active on social media platforms now. “Minor girls are being lured into friendship traps and then forced to enter into physical relationships by their online friends.
Schools and colleges are not open properly yet, due to which youths are mostly free and get involved in such crimes, where they use children to satiate their carnal desires,” she said.
Citing an example she said, last week mothers of around half a dozen girls brought their daughters for counselling to Childline and most of them were involved in friendship with elder youths on social media, said director of Childline.
She said that parents should advise their children about healthy use of internet and counsel them on do's and don'ts. Not only girls, even boys are becoming victims of crime against children and most of them are not reported to police. Child rights activist Prashant Dubey said crime against children not only adversely affects their present lives but also endangers their future. Crime against children in MP has now become a harsh reality; these cases have surged in the last few months. “Evidence shows that violence, exploitation and abuse are often practised by someone known to the child. The excessive use of internet is dangerous,” said Dubey.
He said, promotion of personal safety among children, child protection policies in schools and increased awareness of parents are essential to prevent sexual abuse of children. Understanding the underlying causes and addressing them is key to ending violence against children. Immediate and early justice is also an important element in prevention of violence.
Consultant psychiatrist Satyakant Trivedi said, children are soft targets easy porn material available on the internet through various websites has a major role in the rise in crime against children. The porn addicts target children as they are unaware of sexual behaviour. Such incidents have a lifetime impact on minor victims and they can go into depression.
Trivedi said, porn sites create acceptance for overall sexual crimes, having adverse psychological effects on children. The important aspect is that sexual education is missing in our curriculum; it is considered taboo. It creates age wise curiosity in children and they resort to internet searches to resolve their curiosity and may become porn addict. He said that parents need to pay special attention to their kids’ internet usage and closely monitor their behaviour patterns so as to notice any change. They need to maintain proper dialogue with children and openly provide them appropriate sex education at appropriate time so that the children do not go to internet or their friends to satisfy their curiosities.
