25.10.10
Times of India

Sex after false promise of marriage is rape: Court

MUMBAI: Stating that sexual relationships with a woman on false promise of marriage amounts to rape, a sessions court last week convicted a 20-year-old man for sexually exploiting his colleague. Saying that the accused caused damage to the victim's reputation and left behind a trail of misery, additional sessions Judge SD Bhate sentenced the accused to five years of rigorous imprisonment for rape and cheating.

The victim who was 18 years old at the time of the incident even gave birth to a baby girl as a result of the relationship. Since the accused refused to accept both the victim and the baby, the child was given up for adoption. According to the prosecution, the victim, Sarita (name changed), from Goregaon(E), used to attend night school and worked at a factory owned by her relatives since 2005. The accused, Pawan Harijan, also worked in the same factory. On May 16, 2008, Harijan asked Sarita to come to the factory at night. After reaching the factory, she found Harijan was alone there. When she refused to enter the factory, the accused dragged her inside and locked the door.

Promising to marry her, the accused had sex with her. Over the next month Harijan had sex with the victim several times while promising to marry her. In July 2008, Harijan went to his village in UP, saying that he would return in 15 days. He, however, didn't come back.

25.10.10
Hindustan Times

Crimes against girls on the rise, police claim

The arrests of two teenaged boys allegedly for committing sexual crimes against four-year-old girls last week, are not stray incidents, the Mumbai police claim. Statistics available with the police department say that crimes against minor girls in the city are on the rise.
Until September this year, 115 cases of molestation of girls have been reported. The figure in 2009 was 111

There has also been a rise in cases of outraging the modesty of girls from 14 cases in 2009 to 19 this year, police records claim.

“We suspect there could be many more such instances that don’t make it to the crime registers,” Deven Bharti, additional commissioner of police (crime), said. “Many children are abused and exploited in slums and those instances are seldom reported. But one thing is for sure that such cases are on the rise.”

Madhavi Mhatre, activist with Childline India Foundation, attributed the rise in these cases to sociological factors.

“There are more nuclear families with working parents. Children are left alone at home and are more vulnerable to abuse,” Mhatre said. “In joint families, there was a support structure even when the parents were away.” Snehal Rane from Balprafulta, an organisation working for child rights, said: “Young girls and boys are easy targets because there is a belief that they can be easily controlled. In most cases, the child is too scared to reveal anything about the incident to anyone.”

Dr. Nilima Mehta, former chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee said pressure to survive causes frustration that, in turn, leads to aggressive behaviour. “This aggression is directed towards vulnerable people like children and senior citizens,” she said. “There is also the factor of alienation and anonymity these days when people are not even aware about their next-door neighbours. Earlier, your neighbour’s children were like your children. In certain cases, they are seen as convenient targets.”

Mhatre said the police need to ensure that such cases are investigated properly and punitive action be taken. “Therapeutic treatment for the victim and the accused will help,” she said.

26.10.10
Times of India

Child’s rights violation rampant in India’
50% Schoolkids Interviewed Say They Had Faced Sexual Abuse: Survey


London: In a shocking revelation,more than 50% children interviewed for a survey in India to determine the extent of violence against them said they had faced sexual abuse.In total,12,500 schoolchildren in 13 states between five and 18,as well as otherwise,took part in the research.

The report by Plan International,a childrens organization here,said India has the dubious third rank among 13 countries in terms of estimated economic cost of corporal punishment.Plan calculated that anything between $1.4 billion and $7.4 billion was lost every year in India by way of social benefits because of physical ill-treatment in schools.This is premised on how the larger economy is affected by the impact of such punishment,causing poor pupils attendance and academic performance.Only the US and Brazil suffered greater economic damage in the same sphere.According to Plans findings,corporal punishment is widespread in Indian schools,despite being illegal.More than 65% children,its report claimed,said they had been beaten up.A majority of such victims are in state schools.

The study also discovered that caste and gender discrimination was the major cause of violence against children.It said many students abandoned their studies because of such humiliation,which included hitting with hands or sticks,making them stand in various positions for long hours and tying them to chairs.More boys (54%) than girls (45%) were subjected to corporal punishment.Students in Assam,Mizoram and Uttar Pradesh reported the highest rates of corporal punishment,while Rajasthan and Goa reported the lowest.



26.10.10
Mumbai Mirror

Neglected children sexually abuse siblings

A new study has suggested that kids who are born into families in which abuse, violence and neglect is common are more likely to indulge in sexually abusing other children. The researchers studies boys aged 10 or under who have molested siblings, classmates, or friends.

The study found that the boys were unable to form healthy relationships as a result of neglectful and hostile parenting.

Even before starting school, they were anxious, angry and detached; bed-wetting, nightmares, self-harm and eating problems were common.

By the time they received specialist help they had all perpetrated serious abuse against several children.

The research, conducted in the London-based National Clinical Assessment and Treatment Service, found that the authorities as well as teachers, social workers and doctors, often missed numerous opportunities to intervene.

Colin Hawkes, the study's author, said that professionals often ignore, dismiss or punish early warning signs such as a child exposing himself or talking explicitly about sex because they find it difficult to believe that children are physically or emotionally capable of such things.

The study also found that in a third of the 27 cases in its sample group the birth mother was suspected of sexually abusing her child.

The study asserted that in many cases the abusers copy what adults around them are doing.

They may also be seeking control in response to the cruelty and loneliness of their own lives, while spoiling the life of a "luckier or happier" child.

Researchers were most shocked to find that many of the boys had learnt to groom and target vulnerable children. "This small minority cannot think straight. They have never experienced calm, coherent parenting," the Herald Sun quoted Hawkes as saying.

"By the time we see them they have been spinning through a spiral of thoughts and feelings and sexually harmful behaviours for years. Early intervention is key as the longer you leave it, the more likely these harmful patterns become fixed (in the brain)," he said.
The findings would be published in Child Abuse Review next year.


26.10.10
DNA

Beware ! Mess with the kids, and you have had it – Centre brings family members, relatives, teachers etc,. under the ambit of special law to prevent child sex abuse

The government is bringing what could be termed mother of all legislations to protect children (up to the age of 18) from sexual exploitation.

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill (PCSOB), 2010, has been finalised and will most likely be placed before the Union cabinet for clearance next week. It will be tabled in parliament in the winter session. PCSOB will be superior to all other existing provisions of IPC.

The bill, which may soon become a law, expands the definition of incestuous sexual assaults to include, apart from parents and family members, to relatives, teachers, heads of institutions, staff, managers, etc.

It makes persons having knowledge of such attacks - media, hotel where the assault has occurred, hospitals, studios, neighbours, relatives — accountable for reporting the matter to police and proposes punishment otherwise.

“The term incest is seen as limited to relations with father or brother. An attempt has been made to widen its horizon to include all those people who are related to the child in some way,” Bharati Ali of Haq, an NGO for child rights, said. Ali was part of the bill making process.

Getting wiser with the Ruchika Girhotra case, the government has realised that molestation is a mild term. Hence, for the first time, sexual harassment has been made a crime against children too, which will include any sort of misbehaviour with a child done with “sexual intent”.

Uttering a word, or making a sound (like whistling) or a gesture or exhibiting any object or body part with “sexual intent” to attract the attention of a child will be seen as sexual harassment attracting punishment up to three years in jail.

“We have tried to cover all aspects of sexual assault to provide better protection from sexual abuse while stipulating stringent punishment as a deterrent. This will contribute to a sense of security among children and allow them to live with freedom and dignity,” women and child development minister Krishna Tirath said.

The bill proposes innovations such as child-friendly courts and procedures and punishment for not reporting offences and for false complaints and information. In cases where the victim is below 16, the onus of proving that s/he has not committed the offence will be on the accused.
The bill covers all aspects of sexual offences - aggravated, aggravated penetrative, assault by armed and security forces and school authorities. Physically incapacitating a child or causing him/her to become mentally ill, even if temporarily, making a girl pregnant, inflicting HIV/AIDS or any other life-threatening disease or infection that may incapacitate a child will be seen as an aggravated form of sexual assault.

Police officers investigating such cases shall ensure that victims do not come in physical contact with accused and do not see them while testifying. A harsher punishment has been prescribed if offences under the bill are committed by public servants, police officers, security or army officers or persons in position of trust or authority.

However, child rights activists complained the bill does not address the issue of supporting victims and their families. “The intention should not be to define crime and prescribe punishment. In special laws, criminality gets lost and becomes a social issue. The special points in the new law should be incorporated under a special chapter in IPC, which is the Bible for police. New law will further lead to duplication and complication,” Bharati Ali said.