14.1.2011
Times of India
Victim takes up child trafficking cause
MUMBAI: Stolen from home and robbed of a childhood more than 30 years ago, Rani Tong, a victim of child trafficking, launched a battle against human trafficking through her NGO, Tronie Foundation, one that she set up with her husband Tron in 2006.
While Rani was trafficked from south India, Tron was a victim of trafficking in Vietnam. They now live in the US, a country where they were both carted to as children. On Thursday evening, Rani shared her story at a discussion on women,s empowerment at the American Centre, Mumbai.
Rani was born into an impoverished family in a village in Kerala. At seven, a woman in the village approached her mother and promised to look after Rani and provide her with the best education. With the assurance that she would be able to see her daughter every day, her mother agreed to hand over her daughter to the woman, who turned out to be a trafficker. Rani was stolen and taken to Tamil Nadu, a state whose language she did not know. "I was scared and alone. I was tortured, starved and beaten by my master, who wanted me to submit to his will," she says. "My body and mind shut down after the abuse. At the age of eight, I was totally broken," says Rani, who was on the verge of death at the time.
By then, her trafficker had little use for her, and sold her to an international adoption agency, where she was first transported to Canada, and from there to the US.
She credits her adoptive mother for helping her heal from the trauma.
"As a child slave, my captors said I had no voice. And now, so many people want to listen to what I have to say," says Rani, who has even been felicitated by the United Nations for her campaign against human trafficking.
Rani has travelled extensively through India, tracing the source of human trafficking, as well as the route taken to smuggle human beings from one state to the next. She has interviewed several victims of exploitation, who have joined her in her fight against human trafficking.
Over a decade ago, she even traced her roots to the village in Kerala where she once lived. It,s here that she was re-united with her family in 1999.
January 15, 2011
January 13, 2011
MIDDAY, Delhi
Sodomised boy traced, sister disappears
By: Atul Krishan Date: 2010-12-21 Place: Delhi
The thirteen-year-old boy - one of the three siblings from central Delhi's Prasad Nagar, who were drugged and sodomised over 18 months, allegedly by their school cab driver and four other juveniles - was traced on Monday, after he went missing three days ago. But now his fourteen-year-old sister has gone missing.
Delhi police personnel are befuddled and plan to lodge a case of kidnapping. The boy had gone missing a day after Crime Branch, which is now looking into the matter, filed a chargesheet with a city court regarding the case. Police had also filed a kidnapping case regarding the boy who says he was abducted by one of the accused.
The sexual abuse was reported on September 17, when the kids' mother Rajkumari (name changed) informed one of her neighbours that her daughter and two sons were raped and sodomised by their cab driver Lalit Ratawal (32) and four juveniles for several months.
Though the mother came to know about it seven months later, she was threatened with dire consequences when she confronted the accused. She kept silent for a week before reporting the matter to police.
Times of India, Delhi
Dec 21st
Prasad Nagar victim found, says he was kidnapped
NEW DELHI: Seventy-two hours after he disappeared on Friday , the 13-year-old boy , who is one of the three victims in the shocking Prasad Nagar sexual abuse case , was found on Deshbandhu Gupta Road in central Delhi on Sunday evening . The boy was found while he was serving tea to a lady in a garment shop .
Neeta Khullar , the owner of the shop in Durga Chambers , explained , "The boy came to me serving tea around 4pm. Since he was well-dressed and didn't appear to be destitute, I asked him why he was working at such a young age . At first , he appeared scared and pretended that he had no family . But later I managed to cajole him into giving me his mother's number who I then called . I informed her that her child was safe and in my shop ."
Khullar , who runs an NGO said , "I was not aware that the child was linked to the Prasad Nagar case . It was only after I spoke to the mother that I realised what the situation was ." The victim claimed that he had been drugged , kidnapped and taken to a dark room . "I was beaten up and a CD with videos of our sexual abuse was snatched from me . I was threatened not to return to my residence or else they would harm my family . Then I was dropped off on Pusa Road on Saturday evening where a tea shop owner gave me refuge . I did not want to go back home because I was scared ," the boy said .
Subhash Nagar , a neighbour of the family and a social worker , said , "The boy told us that one of the accused , who is yet to be caught , allegedly drugged and kidnapped him while he was unconscious from outside his Taekwondo teacher's residence in Patel Nagar ."
Deputy commissioner of police (central ) Vivek Kishore confirmed that the boy had been recovered . "The boy is currently in our possession . As our investigations are going on , we cannot reveal anything further ," said DCP Kishore .
13.1.11
Hindustan Times, Delhi
Sexual abuse victims face mom’s wrath
In a new twist to the case of three Delhi siblings exploited sexually by their school cab driver for over a year, a city court has found their woes were compounded with the mother subjecting them to severe physical violence. “All the three child victims appear to have been physically assaulted
repeatedly while in the custody of their mother,” said additional sessions judge Santosh Snehi Mann in her order dismissing the bail plea of cab driver Lalit Ratawal.
Disturbed by the worsening plight of the children, the judge wanted the state to intervene in the matter to ensure chidlren's welfare.
The court made the "shocking and disturbing" findings in the medical reports of the three children examined on three different dates after the arrest of the accused on September 17 last year and when they were in the custody of their own mother. “The children, who are the victims of sexual assault, were constantly physically abused and appear to have been treated with utmost cruelty while in the custody of their mother.” PTI
Sodomised boy traced, sister disappears
By: Atul Krishan Date: 2010-12-21 Place: Delhi
The thirteen-year-old boy - one of the three siblings from central Delhi's Prasad Nagar, who were drugged and sodomised over 18 months, allegedly by their school cab driver and four other juveniles - was traced on Monday, after he went missing three days ago. But now his fourteen-year-old sister has gone missing.
Delhi police personnel are befuddled and plan to lodge a case of kidnapping. The boy had gone missing a day after Crime Branch, which is now looking into the matter, filed a chargesheet with a city court regarding the case. Police had also filed a kidnapping case regarding the boy who says he was abducted by one of the accused.
The sexual abuse was reported on September 17, when the kids' mother Rajkumari (name changed) informed one of her neighbours that her daughter and two sons were raped and sodomised by their cab driver Lalit Ratawal (32) and four juveniles for several months.
Though the mother came to know about it seven months later, she was threatened with dire consequences when she confronted the accused. She kept silent for a week before reporting the matter to police.
Times of India, Delhi
Dec 21st
Prasad Nagar victim found, says he was kidnapped
NEW DELHI: Seventy-two hours after he disappeared on Friday , the 13-year-old boy , who is one of the three victims in the shocking Prasad Nagar sexual abuse case , was found on Deshbandhu Gupta Road in central Delhi on Sunday evening . The boy was found while he was serving tea to a lady in a garment shop .
Neeta Khullar , the owner of the shop in Durga Chambers , explained , "The boy came to me serving tea around 4pm. Since he was well-dressed and didn't appear to be destitute, I asked him why he was working at such a young age . At first , he appeared scared and pretended that he had no family . But later I managed to cajole him into giving me his mother's number who I then called . I informed her that her child was safe and in my shop ."
Khullar , who runs an NGO said , "I was not aware that the child was linked to the Prasad Nagar case . It was only after I spoke to the mother that I realised what the situation was ." The victim claimed that he had been drugged , kidnapped and taken to a dark room . "I was beaten up and a CD with videos of our sexual abuse was snatched from me . I was threatened not to return to my residence or else they would harm my family . Then I was dropped off on Pusa Road on Saturday evening where a tea shop owner gave me refuge . I did not want to go back home because I was scared ," the boy said .
Subhash Nagar , a neighbour of the family and a social worker , said , "The boy told us that one of the accused , who is yet to be caught , allegedly drugged and kidnapped him while he was unconscious from outside his Taekwondo teacher's residence in Patel Nagar ."
Deputy commissioner of police (central ) Vivek Kishore confirmed that the boy had been recovered . "The boy is currently in our possession . As our investigations are going on , we cannot reveal anything further ," said DCP Kishore .
13.1.11
Hindustan Times, Delhi
Sexual abuse victims face mom’s wrath
In a new twist to the case of three Delhi siblings exploited sexually by their school cab driver for over a year, a city court has found their woes were compounded with the mother subjecting them to severe physical violence. “All the three child victims appear to have been physically assaulted
repeatedly while in the custody of their mother,” said additional sessions judge Santosh Snehi Mann in her order dismissing the bail plea of cab driver Lalit Ratawal.
Disturbed by the worsening plight of the children, the judge wanted the state to intervene in the matter to ensure chidlren's welfare.
The court made the "shocking and disturbing" findings in the medical reports of the three children examined on three different dates after the arrest of the accused on September 17 last year and when they were in the custody of their own mother. “The children, who are the victims of sexual assault, were constantly physically abused and appear to have been treated with utmost cruelty while in the custody of their mother.” PTI
January 10, 2011
http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/BREAKING-NEWS/BRILLIANT-COMPUTER-SCIENTIST-TAKES-OWN-LIFE-BR-Leaves-behind-stunning-note-telling-of-childhood-sexual-abuse-563408
BRILLIANT COMPUTER SCIENTIST TAKES OWN LIFE
Leaves behind stunning note telling of childhood sexual abuse
January 08, 2011
PRINCETON, MASS.) --Bill Zeller, a 27-year old fifth-year graduate student in the computer science department at Princeton University died Wednesday night as a result of injuries and complications sustained in a suicide attempt.
What left his family, friends, fellow students and teachers in shock was what caused him to try to commit suicide.
Zeller left behind a 4,000 page suicide note describing how he had never been a fully functioning human being after being repeatedly raped as a small child.
If anyone wants to understand the effects that childhood sexual abuse can have on an individual for the rest of his or her life, tap into Zeller’s 4,000-word note describing the torment that has been his life since he was a young boy.
In the note Zeller described how repeated sexual abuse as a young child haunted him for the rest of his life, causing regular nightmares and limiting his ability to connect with other human beings.
Zeller's words are a heart-wrenching testament to just how much a child rapist steals from the child that is abused. In Zeller’s case, what was taken from him was the rest of his life. He had no joy, no hope, no peace, no future but the darkness that followed him everywhere.
Zeller did not name in the note who had raped him repeatedly as a child. It was not immediately known if the rapist had been caught and prosecuted years ago or if the rapist remained unknown to the police and/or Zeller’s parents.
The Princeton University campus newspaper The Princetonian ran an article about Zeller’s death and the note he left behind here
I have the urge to declare my sanity and justify my actions, but I
assume I'll never be able to convince anyone that this was the right
decision. Maybe it's true that anyone who does this is insane by
definition, but I can at least explain my reasoning. I considered not
writing any of this because of how personal it is, but I like tying up
loose ends and don't want people to wonder why I did this. Since I've
never spoken to anyone about what happened to me, people would likely
draw the wrong conclusions.
My first memories as a child are of being raped, repeatedly. This has
affected every aspect of my life. This darkness, which is the only way I
can describe it, has followed me like a fog, but at times intensified
and overwhelmed me, usually triggered by a distinct situation. In
kindergarten I couldn't use the bathroom and would stand petrified
whenever I needed to, which started a trend of awkward and unexplained
social behavior. The damage that was done to my body still prevents me
from using the bathroom normally, but now it's less of a physical
impediment than a daily reminder of what was done to me.
This darkness followed me as I grew up. I remember spending hours
playing with legos, having my world consist of me and a box of cold,
plastic blocks. Just waiting for everything to end. It's the same thing
I do now, but instead of legos it's surfing the web or reading or
listening to a baseball game. Most of my life has been spent feeling
dead inside, waiting for my body to catch up.
At times growing up I would feel inconsolable rage, but I never
connected this to what happened until puberty. I was able to keep the
darkness at bay for a few hours at a time by doing things that required
intense concentration, but it would always come back. Programming
appealed to me for this reason. I was never particularly fond of
computers or mathematically inclined, but the temporary peace it would
provide was like a drug. But the darkness always returned and built up
something like a tolerance, because programming has become less and less
of a refuge.
The darkness is with me nearly every time I wake up. I feel like a grime
is covering me. I feel like I'm trapped in a contimated body that no
amount of washing will clean. Whenever I think about what happened I
feel manic and itchy and can't concentrate on anything else. It
manifests itself in hours of eating or staying up for days at a time or
sleeping for sixteen hours straight or week long programming binges or
constantly going to the gym. I'm exhausted from feeling like this every
hour of every day.
Three to four nights a week I have nightmares about what happened. It
makes me avoid sleep and constantly tired, because sleeping with what
feels like hours of nightmares is not restful. I wake up sweaty and
furious. I'm reminded every morning of what was done to me and the
control it has over my life.
I've never been able to stop thinking about what happened to me and this
hampered my social interactions. I would be angry and lost in thought
and then be interrupted by someone saying "Hi" or making small talk,
unable to understand why I seemed cold and distant. I walked around,
viewing the outside world from a distant portal behind my eyes, unable
to perform normal human niceties. I wondered what it would be like to
take to other people without what happened constantly on my mind, and I
wondered if other people had similar experiences that they were better
able to mask.
Alcohol was also something that let me escape the darkness. It would
always find me later, though, and it was always angry that I managed to
escape and it made me pay. Many of the irresponsible things I did were
the result of the darkness. Obviously I'm responsible for every decision
and action, including this one, but there are reasons why things happen
the way they do.
Alcohol and other drugs provided a way to ignore the realities of my
situation. It was easy to spend the night drinking and forget that I had
no future to look forward to. I never liked what alcohol did to me, but
it was better than facing my existence honestly. I haven't touched
alcohol or any other drug in over seven months (and no drugs or alcohol
will be involved when I do this) and this has forced me to evaluate my
life in an honest and clear way. There's no future here. The darkness
will always be with me.
I used to think if I solved some problem or achieved some goal, maybe he
would leave. It was comforting to identify tangible issues as the source
of my problems instead of something that I'll never be able to change. I
thought that if I got into to a good college, or a good grad school, or
lost weight, or went to the gym nearly every day for a year, or created
programs that millions of people used, or spent a summer or California
or New York or published papers that I was proud of, then maybe I would
feel some peace and not be constantly haunted and unhappy. But nothing I
did made a dent in how depressed I was on a daily basis and nothing was
in any way fulfilling. I'm not sure why I ever thought that would change
anything.
I didn't realize how deep a hold he had on me and my life until my
first relationship. I stupidly assumed that no matter how the darkness
affected me personally, my romantic relationships would somehow be
separated and protected. Growing up I viewed my future relationships as
a possible escape from this thing that haunts me every day, but I began
to realize how entangled it was with every aspect of my life and how it
is never going to release me. Instead of being an escape, relationships
and romantic contact with other people only intensified everything about
him that I couldn't stand. I will never be able to have a relationship
in which he is not the focus, affecting every aspect of my romantic
interactions.
Relationships always started out fine and I'd be able to ignore him for
a few weeks. But as we got closer emotionally the darkness would return
and every night it'd be me, her and the darkness in a black and gruesome
threesome. He would surround me and penetrate me and the more we did the
more intense it became. It made me hate being touched, because as long
as we were separated I could view her like an outsider viewing something
good and kind and untainted. Once we touched, the darkness would
envelope her too and take her over and the evil inside me would surround
her. I always felt like I was infecting anyone I was with.
Relationships didn't work. No one I dated was the right match, and I
thought that maybe if I found the right person it would overwhelm him.
Part of me knew that finding the right person wouldn't help, so I became
interested in girls who obviously had no interest in me. For a while I
thought I was gay. I convinced myself that it wasn't the darkness at
all, but rather my orientation, because this would give me control over
why things didn't feel "right". The fact that the darkness affected
sexual matters most intensely made this idea make some sense and I
convinced myself of this for a number of years, starting in college
after my first relationship ended. I told people I was gay (at Trinity,
not at Princeton), even though I wasn't attracted to men and kept
finding myself interested in girls. Because if being gay wasn't the
answer, then what was? People thought I was avoiding my orientation, but
I was actually avoiding the truth, which is that while I'm straight, I
will never be content with anyone. I know now that the darkness will
never leave.
Last spring I met someone who was unlike anyone else I'd ever met.
Someone who showed me just how well two people could get along and how
much I could care about another human being. Someone I know I could be
with and love for the rest of my life, if I weren't so fucked up.
Amazingly, she liked me. She liked the shell of the man the darkness had
left behind. But it didn't matter because I couldn't be alone with her.
It was never just the two of us, it was always the three of us: her, me
and the darkness. The closer we got, the more intensely I'd feel the
darkness, like some evil mirror of my emotions. All the closeness we had
and I loved was complemented by agony that I couldn't stand, from him. I
realized that I would never be able to give her, or anyone, all of me or
only me. She could never have me without the darkness and evil inside
me. I could never have just her, without the darkness being a part of
all of our interactions. I will never be able to be at peace or content
or in a healthy relationship. I realized the futility of the romantic
part of my life. If I had never met her, I would have realized this as
soon as I met someone else who I meshed similarly well with. It's likely
that things wouldn't have worked out with her and we would have broken
up (with our relationship ending, like the majority of relationships do)
even if I didn't have this problem, since we only dated for a short
time. But I will face exactly the same problems with the darkness with
anyone else. Despite my hopes, love and compatability is not enough.
Nothing is enough. There's no way I can fix this or even push the
darkness down far enough to make a relationship or any type of intimacy
feasible.
So I watched as things fell apart between us. I had put an explicit time
limit on our relationship, since I knew it couldn't last because of the
darkness and didn't want to hold her back, and this caused a variety of
problems. She was put in an unnatural situation that she never should
have been a part of. It must have been very hard for her, not knowing
what was actually going on with me, but this is not something I've ever
been able to talk about with anyone. Losing her was very hard for me as
well. Not because of her (I got over our relationship relatively
quickly), but because of the realization that I would never have another
relationship and because it signified the last true, exclusive personal
connection I could ever have. This wasn't apparent to other people,
because I could never talk about the real reasons for my sadness. I was
very sad in the summer and fall, but it was not because of her, it was
because I will never escape the darkness with anyone. She was so loving
and kind to me and gave me everything I could have asked for under the
circumstances. I'll never forget how much happiness she brought me in
those briefs moments when I could ignore the darkness. I had originally
planned to kill myself last winter but never got around to it. (Parts of
this letter were written over a year ago, other parts days before doing
this.) It was wrong of me to involve myself in her life if this were a
possibility and I should have just left her alone, even though we only
dated for a few months and things ended a long time ago. She's just one
more person in a long list of people I've hurt.
I could spend pages talking about the other relationships I've had that
were ruined because of my problems and my confusion related to the
darkness. I've hurt so many great people because of who I am and my
inability to experience what needs to be experienced. All I can say is
that I tried to be honest with people about what I thought was true.
I've spent my life hurting people. Today will be the last time.
I've told different people a lot of things, but I've never told anyone
about what happened to me, ever, for obvious reasons. It took me a while
to realize that no matter how close you are to someone or how much they
claim to love you, people simply cannot keep secrets. I learned this a
few years ago when I thought I was gay and told people. The more harmful
the secret, the juicier the gossip and the more likely you are to be
betrayed. People don't care about their word or what they've promised,
they just do whatever the fuck they want and justify it later. It feels
incredibly lonely to realize you can never share something with someone
and have it be between just the two of you. I don't blame anyone in
particular, I guess it's just how people are. Even if I felt like this
is something I could have shared, I have no interest in being part of a
friendship or relationship where the other person views me as the
damaged and contaminated person that I am. So even if I were able to
trust someone, I probably would not have told them about what happened
to me. At this point I simply don't care who knows.
I feel an evil inside me. An evil that makes me want to end life. I need
to stop this. I need to make sure I don't kill someone, which is not
something that can be easily undone. I don't know if this is related to
what happened to me or something different. I recognize the irony of
killing myself to prevent myself from killing someone else, but this
decision should indicate what I'm capable of.
So I've realized I will never escape the darkness or misery associated
with it and I have a responsibility to stop myself from physically
harming others.
I'm just a broken, miserable shell of a human being. Being molested has
defined me as a person and shaped me as a human being and it has made me
the monster I am and there's nothing I can do to escape it. I don't know
any other existence. I don't know what life feels like where I'm apart
from any of this. I actively despise the person I am. I just feel
fundamentally broken, almost non-human. I feel like an animal that woke
up one day in a human body, trying to make sense of a foreign world,
living among creatures it doesn't understand and can't connect with.
I have accepted that the darkness will never allow me to be in a
relationship. I will never go to sleep with someone in my arms, feeling
the comfort of their hands around me. I will never know what
uncontimated intimacy is like. I will never have an exclusive bond with
someone, someone who can be the recipient of all the love I have to
give. I will never have children, and I wanted to be a father so badly.
I think I would have made a good dad. And even if I had fought through
the darkness and married and had children all while being unable to feel
intimacy, I could have never done that if suicide were a possibility. I
did try to minimize pain, although I know that this decision will hurt
many of you. If this hurts you, I hope that you can at least forget
about me quickly.
There's no point in identifying who molested me, so I'm just going to
leave it at that. I doubt the word of a dead guy with no evidence about
something that happened over twenty years ago would have much sway.
You may wonder why I didn't just talk to a professional about this. I've
seen a number of doctors since I was a teenager to talk about other
issues and I'm positive that another doctor would not have helped. I was
never given one piece of actionable advice, ever. More than a few spent
a large part of the session reading their notes to remember who I was.
And I have no interest in talking about being raped as a child, both
because I know it wouldn't help and because I have no confidence it
would remain secret. I know the legal and practical limits of
doctor/patient confidentiality, growing up in a house where we'd hear
stories about the various mental illnesses of famous people, stories
that were passed down through generations. All it takes is one doctor
who thinks my story is interesting enough to share or a doctor who
thinks it's her right or responsibility to contact the authorities and
have me identify the molestor (justifying her decision by telling
herself that someone else might be in danger). All it takes is a single
doctor who violates my trust, just like the "friends" who I told I was
gay did, and everything would be made public and I'd be forced to live
in a world where people would know how fucked up I am. And yes, I
realize this indicates that I have severe trust issues, but they're
based on a large number of experiences with people who have shown a
profound disrepect for their word and the privacy of others.
People say suicide is selfish. I think it's selfish to ask people to
continue living painful and miserable lives, just so you possibly won't
feel sad for a week or two. Suicide may be a permanent solution to a
temporary problem, but it's also a permanent solution to a ~23 year-old
problem that grows more intense and overwhelming every day.
Some people are just dealt bad hands in this life. I know many people
have it worse than I do, and maybe I'm just not a strong person, but I
really did try to deal with this. I've tried to deal with this every day
for the last 23 years and I just can't fucking take it anymore.
I often wonder what life must be like for other people. People who
can feel the love from others and give it back unadulterated, people who
can experience sex as an intimate and joyous experience, people who can
experience the colors and happenings of this world without constant
misery. I wonder who I'd be if things had been different or if I were a
stronger person. It sounds pretty great.
I'm prepared for death. I'm prepared for the pain and I am ready to no
longer exist. Thanks to the strictness of New Jersey gun laws this will
probably be much more painful than it needs to be, but what can you do.
My only fear at this point is messing something up and surviving.
---
I'd also like to address my family, if you can call them that. I despise
everything they stand for and I truly hate them, in a non-emotional,
dispassionate and what I believe is a healthy way. The world will be a
better place when they're dead--one with less hatred and intolerance.
If you're unfamiliar with the situation, my parents are fundamentalist
Christians who kicked me out of their house and cut me off financially
when I was 19 because I refused to attend seven hours of church a week.
They live in a black and white reality they've constructed for
themselves. They partition the world into good and evil and survive
by hating everything they fear or misunderstand and calling it love.
They don't understand that good and decent people exist all around us,
"saved" or not, and that evil and cruel people occupy a large percentage
of their church. They take advantage of people looking for hope by
teaching them to practice the same hatred they practice.
A random example:
"I am personally convinced that if a Muslim truly believes and obeys the
Koran, he will be a terrorist." - George Zeller, August 24, 2010.
If you choose to follow a religion where, for example, devout Catholics
who are trying to be good people are all going to Hell but child
molestors go to Heaven (as long as they were "saved" at some point),
that's your choice, but it's fucked up. Maybe a God who operates by
those rules does exist. If so, fuck Him.
Their church was always more important than the members of their family
and they happily sacrificed whatever necessary in order to satisfy
their contrived beliefs about who they should be.
I grew up in a house where love was proxied through a God I could never
believe in. A house where the love of music with any sort of a beat was
literally beaten out of me. A house full of hatred and intolerance, run
by two people who were experts at appearing kind and warm when others
were around. Parents who tell an eight year old that his grandmother is
going to Hell because she's Catholic. Parents who claim not to be racist
but then talk about the horrors of miscegenation. I could list hundreds
of other examples, but it's tiring.
Since being kicked out, I've interacted with them in relatively normal
ways. I talk to them on the phone like nothing happened. I'm not sure
why. Maybe because I like pretending I have a family. Maybe I like
having people I can talk to about what's been going on in my life.
Whatever the reason, it's not real and it feels like a sham. I should
have never allowed this reconnection to happen.
I wrote the above a while ago, and I do feel like that much of the time.
At other times, though, I feel less hateful. I know my parents honestly
believe the crap they believe in. I know that my mom, at least, loved me
very much and tried her best. One reason I put this off for so long is
because I know how much pain it will cause her. She has been sad since
she found out I wasn't "saved", since she believes I'm going to Hell,
which is not a sadness for which I am responsible. That was never going
to change, and presumably she believes the state of my physical body is
much less important than the state of my soul. Still, I cannot
intellectually justify this decision, knowing how much it will hurt her.
Maybe my ability to take my own life, knowing how much pain it will
cause, shows that I am a monster who doesn't deserve to live. All I know
is that I can't deal with this pain any longer and I'm am truly sorry I
couldn't wait until my family and everyone I knew died so this could be
done without hurting anyone. For years I've wished that I'd be hit by a
bus or die while saving a baby from drowning so my death might be more
acceptable, but I was never so lucky.
---
To those of you who have shown me love, thank you for putting up with
all my shittiness and moodiness and arbitrariness. I was never the
person I wanted to be. Maybe without the darkness I would have been a
better person, maybe not. I did try to be a good person, but I realize I
never got very far.
I'm sorry for the pain this causes. I really do wish I had another
option. I hope this letter explains why I needed to do this. If you
can't understand this decision, I hope you can at least forgive me.
Bill Zeller
---
Please save this letter and repost it if gets deleted. I don't want
people to wonder why I did this. I disseminated it more widely than I
might have otherwise because I'm worried that my family might try to
restrict access to it. I don't mind if this letter is made public. In
fact, I'd prefer it be made public to people being unable to read it and
drawing their own conclusions.
Feel free to republish this letter, but only if it is reproduced in its
entirety.
.
BRILLIANT COMPUTER SCIENTIST TAKES OWN LIFE
Leaves behind stunning note telling of childhood sexual abuse
January 08, 2011
PRINCETON, MASS.) --Bill Zeller, a 27-year old fifth-year graduate student in the computer science department at Princeton University died Wednesday night as a result of injuries and complications sustained in a suicide attempt.
What left his family, friends, fellow students and teachers in shock was what caused him to try to commit suicide.
Zeller left behind a 4,000 page suicide note describing how he had never been a fully functioning human being after being repeatedly raped as a small child.
If anyone wants to understand the effects that childhood sexual abuse can have on an individual for the rest of his or her life, tap into Zeller’s 4,000-word note describing the torment that has been his life since he was a young boy.
In the note Zeller described how repeated sexual abuse as a young child haunted him for the rest of his life, causing regular nightmares and limiting his ability to connect with other human beings.
Zeller's words are a heart-wrenching testament to just how much a child rapist steals from the child that is abused. In Zeller’s case, what was taken from him was the rest of his life. He had no joy, no hope, no peace, no future but the darkness that followed him everywhere.
Zeller did not name in the note who had raped him repeatedly as a child. It was not immediately known if the rapist had been caught and prosecuted years ago or if the rapist remained unknown to the police and/or Zeller’s parents.
The Princeton University campus newspaper The Princetonian ran an article about Zeller’s death and the note he left behind here
I have the urge to declare my sanity and justify my actions, but I
assume I'll never be able to convince anyone that this was the right
decision. Maybe it's true that anyone who does this is insane by
definition, but I can at least explain my reasoning. I considered not
writing any of this because of how personal it is, but I like tying up
loose ends and don't want people to wonder why I did this. Since I've
never spoken to anyone about what happened to me, people would likely
draw the wrong conclusions.
My first memories as a child are of being raped, repeatedly. This has
affected every aspect of my life. This darkness, which is the only way I
can describe it, has followed me like a fog, but at times intensified
and overwhelmed me, usually triggered by a distinct situation. In
kindergarten I couldn't use the bathroom and would stand petrified
whenever I needed to, which started a trend of awkward and unexplained
social behavior. The damage that was done to my body still prevents me
from using the bathroom normally, but now it's less of a physical
impediment than a daily reminder of what was done to me.
This darkness followed me as I grew up. I remember spending hours
playing with legos, having my world consist of me and a box of cold,
plastic blocks. Just waiting for everything to end. It's the same thing
I do now, but instead of legos it's surfing the web or reading or
listening to a baseball game. Most of my life has been spent feeling
dead inside, waiting for my body to catch up.
At times growing up I would feel inconsolable rage, but I never
connected this to what happened until puberty. I was able to keep the
darkness at bay for a few hours at a time by doing things that required
intense concentration, but it would always come back. Programming
appealed to me for this reason. I was never particularly fond of
computers or mathematically inclined, but the temporary peace it would
provide was like a drug. But the darkness always returned and built up
something like a tolerance, because programming has become less and less
of a refuge.
The darkness is with me nearly every time I wake up. I feel like a grime
is covering me. I feel like I'm trapped in a contimated body that no
amount of washing will clean. Whenever I think about what happened I
feel manic and itchy and can't concentrate on anything else. It
manifests itself in hours of eating or staying up for days at a time or
sleeping for sixteen hours straight or week long programming binges or
constantly going to the gym. I'm exhausted from feeling like this every
hour of every day.
Three to four nights a week I have nightmares about what happened. It
makes me avoid sleep and constantly tired, because sleeping with what
feels like hours of nightmares is not restful. I wake up sweaty and
furious. I'm reminded every morning of what was done to me and the
control it has over my life.
I've never been able to stop thinking about what happened to me and this
hampered my social interactions. I would be angry and lost in thought
and then be interrupted by someone saying "Hi" or making small talk,
unable to understand why I seemed cold and distant. I walked around,
viewing the outside world from a distant portal behind my eyes, unable
to perform normal human niceties. I wondered what it would be like to
take to other people without what happened constantly on my mind, and I
wondered if other people had similar experiences that they were better
able to mask.
Alcohol was also something that let me escape the darkness. It would
always find me later, though, and it was always angry that I managed to
escape and it made me pay. Many of the irresponsible things I did were
the result of the darkness. Obviously I'm responsible for every decision
and action, including this one, but there are reasons why things happen
the way they do.
Alcohol and other drugs provided a way to ignore the realities of my
situation. It was easy to spend the night drinking and forget that I had
no future to look forward to. I never liked what alcohol did to me, but
it was better than facing my existence honestly. I haven't touched
alcohol or any other drug in over seven months (and no drugs or alcohol
will be involved when I do this) and this has forced me to evaluate my
life in an honest and clear way. There's no future here. The darkness
will always be with me.
I used to think if I solved some problem or achieved some goal, maybe he
would leave. It was comforting to identify tangible issues as the source
of my problems instead of something that I'll never be able to change. I
thought that if I got into to a good college, or a good grad school, or
lost weight, or went to the gym nearly every day for a year, or created
programs that millions of people used, or spent a summer or California
or New York or published papers that I was proud of, then maybe I would
feel some peace and not be constantly haunted and unhappy. But nothing I
did made a dent in how depressed I was on a daily basis and nothing was
in any way fulfilling. I'm not sure why I ever thought that would change
anything.
I didn't realize how deep a hold he had on me and my life until my
first relationship. I stupidly assumed that no matter how the darkness
affected me personally, my romantic relationships would somehow be
separated and protected. Growing up I viewed my future relationships as
a possible escape from this thing that haunts me every day, but I began
to realize how entangled it was with every aspect of my life and how it
is never going to release me. Instead of being an escape, relationships
and romantic contact with other people only intensified everything about
him that I couldn't stand. I will never be able to have a relationship
in which he is not the focus, affecting every aspect of my romantic
interactions.
Relationships always started out fine and I'd be able to ignore him for
a few weeks. But as we got closer emotionally the darkness would return
and every night it'd be me, her and the darkness in a black and gruesome
threesome. He would surround me and penetrate me and the more we did the
more intense it became. It made me hate being touched, because as long
as we were separated I could view her like an outsider viewing something
good and kind and untainted. Once we touched, the darkness would
envelope her too and take her over and the evil inside me would surround
her. I always felt like I was infecting anyone I was with.
Relationships didn't work. No one I dated was the right match, and I
thought that maybe if I found the right person it would overwhelm him.
Part of me knew that finding the right person wouldn't help, so I became
interested in girls who obviously had no interest in me. For a while I
thought I was gay. I convinced myself that it wasn't the darkness at
all, but rather my orientation, because this would give me control over
why things didn't feel "right". The fact that the darkness affected
sexual matters most intensely made this idea make some sense and I
convinced myself of this for a number of years, starting in college
after my first relationship ended. I told people I was gay (at Trinity,
not at Princeton), even though I wasn't attracted to men and kept
finding myself interested in girls. Because if being gay wasn't the
answer, then what was? People thought I was avoiding my orientation, but
I was actually avoiding the truth, which is that while I'm straight, I
will never be content with anyone. I know now that the darkness will
never leave.
Last spring I met someone who was unlike anyone else I'd ever met.
Someone who showed me just how well two people could get along and how
much I could care about another human being. Someone I know I could be
with and love for the rest of my life, if I weren't so fucked up.
Amazingly, she liked me. She liked the shell of the man the darkness had
left behind. But it didn't matter because I couldn't be alone with her.
It was never just the two of us, it was always the three of us: her, me
and the darkness. The closer we got, the more intensely I'd feel the
darkness, like some evil mirror of my emotions. All the closeness we had
and I loved was complemented by agony that I couldn't stand, from him. I
realized that I would never be able to give her, or anyone, all of me or
only me. She could never have me without the darkness and evil inside
me. I could never have just her, without the darkness being a part of
all of our interactions. I will never be able to be at peace or content
or in a healthy relationship. I realized the futility of the romantic
part of my life. If I had never met her, I would have realized this as
soon as I met someone else who I meshed similarly well with. It's likely
that things wouldn't have worked out with her and we would have broken
up (with our relationship ending, like the majority of relationships do)
even if I didn't have this problem, since we only dated for a short
time. But I will face exactly the same problems with the darkness with
anyone else. Despite my hopes, love and compatability is not enough.
Nothing is enough. There's no way I can fix this or even push the
darkness down far enough to make a relationship or any type of intimacy
feasible.
So I watched as things fell apart between us. I had put an explicit time
limit on our relationship, since I knew it couldn't last because of the
darkness and didn't want to hold her back, and this caused a variety of
problems. She was put in an unnatural situation that she never should
have been a part of. It must have been very hard for her, not knowing
what was actually going on with me, but this is not something I've ever
been able to talk about with anyone. Losing her was very hard for me as
well. Not because of her (I got over our relationship relatively
quickly), but because of the realization that I would never have another
relationship and because it signified the last true, exclusive personal
connection I could ever have. This wasn't apparent to other people,
because I could never talk about the real reasons for my sadness. I was
very sad in the summer and fall, but it was not because of her, it was
because I will never escape the darkness with anyone. She was so loving
and kind to me and gave me everything I could have asked for under the
circumstances. I'll never forget how much happiness she brought me in
those briefs moments when I could ignore the darkness. I had originally
planned to kill myself last winter but never got around to it. (Parts of
this letter were written over a year ago, other parts days before doing
this.) It was wrong of me to involve myself in her life if this were a
possibility and I should have just left her alone, even though we only
dated for a few months and things ended a long time ago. She's just one
more person in a long list of people I've hurt.
I could spend pages talking about the other relationships I've had that
were ruined because of my problems and my confusion related to the
darkness. I've hurt so many great people because of who I am and my
inability to experience what needs to be experienced. All I can say is
that I tried to be honest with people about what I thought was true.
I've spent my life hurting people. Today will be the last time.
I've told different people a lot of things, but I've never told anyone
about what happened to me, ever, for obvious reasons. It took me a while
to realize that no matter how close you are to someone or how much they
claim to love you, people simply cannot keep secrets. I learned this a
few years ago when I thought I was gay and told people. The more harmful
the secret, the juicier the gossip and the more likely you are to be
betrayed. People don't care about their word or what they've promised,
they just do whatever the fuck they want and justify it later. It feels
incredibly lonely to realize you can never share something with someone
and have it be between just the two of you. I don't blame anyone in
particular, I guess it's just how people are. Even if I felt like this
is something I could have shared, I have no interest in being part of a
friendship or relationship where the other person views me as the
damaged and contaminated person that I am. So even if I were able to
trust someone, I probably would not have told them about what happened
to me. At this point I simply don't care who knows.
I feel an evil inside me. An evil that makes me want to end life. I need
to stop this. I need to make sure I don't kill someone, which is not
something that can be easily undone. I don't know if this is related to
what happened to me or something different. I recognize the irony of
killing myself to prevent myself from killing someone else, but this
decision should indicate what I'm capable of.
So I've realized I will never escape the darkness or misery associated
with it and I have a responsibility to stop myself from physically
harming others.
I'm just a broken, miserable shell of a human being. Being molested has
defined me as a person and shaped me as a human being and it has made me
the monster I am and there's nothing I can do to escape it. I don't know
any other existence. I don't know what life feels like where I'm apart
from any of this. I actively despise the person I am. I just feel
fundamentally broken, almost non-human. I feel like an animal that woke
up one day in a human body, trying to make sense of a foreign world,
living among creatures it doesn't understand and can't connect with.
I have accepted that the darkness will never allow me to be in a
relationship. I will never go to sleep with someone in my arms, feeling
the comfort of their hands around me. I will never know what
uncontimated intimacy is like. I will never have an exclusive bond with
someone, someone who can be the recipient of all the love I have to
give. I will never have children, and I wanted to be a father so badly.
I think I would have made a good dad. And even if I had fought through
the darkness and married and had children all while being unable to feel
intimacy, I could have never done that if suicide were a possibility. I
did try to minimize pain, although I know that this decision will hurt
many of you. If this hurts you, I hope that you can at least forget
about me quickly.
There's no point in identifying who molested me, so I'm just going to
leave it at that. I doubt the word of a dead guy with no evidence about
something that happened over twenty years ago would have much sway.
You may wonder why I didn't just talk to a professional about this. I've
seen a number of doctors since I was a teenager to talk about other
issues and I'm positive that another doctor would not have helped. I was
never given one piece of actionable advice, ever. More than a few spent
a large part of the session reading their notes to remember who I was.
And I have no interest in talking about being raped as a child, both
because I know it wouldn't help and because I have no confidence it
would remain secret. I know the legal and practical limits of
doctor/patient confidentiality, growing up in a house where we'd hear
stories about the various mental illnesses of famous people, stories
that were passed down through generations. All it takes is one doctor
who thinks my story is interesting enough to share or a doctor who
thinks it's her right or responsibility to contact the authorities and
have me identify the molestor (justifying her decision by telling
herself that someone else might be in danger). All it takes is a single
doctor who violates my trust, just like the "friends" who I told I was
gay did, and everything would be made public and I'd be forced to live
in a world where people would know how fucked up I am. And yes, I
realize this indicates that I have severe trust issues, but they're
based on a large number of experiences with people who have shown a
profound disrepect for their word and the privacy of others.
People say suicide is selfish. I think it's selfish to ask people to
continue living painful and miserable lives, just so you possibly won't
feel sad for a week or two. Suicide may be a permanent solution to a
temporary problem, but it's also a permanent solution to a ~23 year-old
problem that grows more intense and overwhelming every day.
Some people are just dealt bad hands in this life. I know many people
have it worse than I do, and maybe I'm just not a strong person, but I
really did try to deal with this. I've tried to deal with this every day
for the last 23 years and I just can't fucking take it anymore.
I often wonder what life must be like for other people. People who
can feel the love from others and give it back unadulterated, people who
can experience sex as an intimate and joyous experience, people who can
experience the colors and happenings of this world without constant
misery. I wonder who I'd be if things had been different or if I were a
stronger person. It sounds pretty great.
I'm prepared for death. I'm prepared for the pain and I am ready to no
longer exist. Thanks to the strictness of New Jersey gun laws this will
probably be much more painful than it needs to be, but what can you do.
My only fear at this point is messing something up and surviving.
---
I'd also like to address my family, if you can call them that. I despise
everything they stand for and I truly hate them, in a non-emotional,
dispassionate and what I believe is a healthy way. The world will be a
better place when they're dead--one with less hatred and intolerance.
If you're unfamiliar with the situation, my parents are fundamentalist
Christians who kicked me out of their house and cut me off financially
when I was 19 because I refused to attend seven hours of church a week.
They live in a black and white reality they've constructed for
themselves. They partition the world into good and evil and survive
by hating everything they fear or misunderstand and calling it love.
They don't understand that good and decent people exist all around us,
"saved" or not, and that evil and cruel people occupy a large percentage
of their church. They take advantage of people looking for hope by
teaching them to practice the same hatred they practice.
A random example:
"I am personally convinced that if a Muslim truly believes and obeys the
Koran, he will be a terrorist." - George Zeller, August 24, 2010.
If you choose to follow a religion where, for example, devout Catholics
who are trying to be good people are all going to Hell but child
molestors go to Heaven (as long as they were "saved" at some point),
that's your choice, but it's fucked up. Maybe a God who operates by
those rules does exist. If so, fuck Him.
Their church was always more important than the members of their family
and they happily sacrificed whatever necessary in order to satisfy
their contrived beliefs about who they should be.
I grew up in a house where love was proxied through a God I could never
believe in. A house where the love of music with any sort of a beat was
literally beaten out of me. A house full of hatred and intolerance, run
by two people who were experts at appearing kind and warm when others
were around. Parents who tell an eight year old that his grandmother is
going to Hell because she's Catholic. Parents who claim not to be racist
but then talk about the horrors of miscegenation. I could list hundreds
of other examples, but it's tiring.
Since being kicked out, I've interacted with them in relatively normal
ways. I talk to them on the phone like nothing happened. I'm not sure
why. Maybe because I like pretending I have a family. Maybe I like
having people I can talk to about what's been going on in my life.
Whatever the reason, it's not real and it feels like a sham. I should
have never allowed this reconnection to happen.
I wrote the above a while ago, and I do feel like that much of the time.
At other times, though, I feel less hateful. I know my parents honestly
believe the crap they believe in. I know that my mom, at least, loved me
very much and tried her best. One reason I put this off for so long is
because I know how much pain it will cause her. She has been sad since
she found out I wasn't "saved", since she believes I'm going to Hell,
which is not a sadness for which I am responsible. That was never going
to change, and presumably she believes the state of my physical body is
much less important than the state of my soul. Still, I cannot
intellectually justify this decision, knowing how much it will hurt her.
Maybe my ability to take my own life, knowing how much pain it will
cause, shows that I am a monster who doesn't deserve to live. All I know
is that I can't deal with this pain any longer and I'm am truly sorry I
couldn't wait until my family and everyone I knew died so this could be
done without hurting anyone. For years I've wished that I'd be hit by a
bus or die while saving a baby from drowning so my death might be more
acceptable, but I was never so lucky.
---
To those of you who have shown me love, thank you for putting up with
all my shittiness and moodiness and arbitrariness. I was never the
person I wanted to be. Maybe without the darkness I would have been a
better person, maybe not. I did try to be a good person, but I realize I
never got very far.
I'm sorry for the pain this causes. I really do wish I had another
option. I hope this letter explains why I needed to do this. If you
can't understand this decision, I hope you can at least forgive me.
Bill Zeller
---
Please save this letter and repost it if gets deleted. I don't want
people to wonder why I did this. I disseminated it more widely than I
might have otherwise because I'm worried that my family might try to
restrict access to it. I don't mind if this letter is made public. In
fact, I'd prefer it be made public to people being unable to read it and
drawing their own conclusions.
Feel free to republish this letter, but only if it is reproduced in its
entirety.
.
January 1, 2011
1.01.2011
DNA
When Indian women cry rape, it is likely to be genuine: HC
When a girl or woman in India alleges rape, there is a “built-in assurance” that the charge is genuine, observed the Bombay high court while dismissing the appeal of a father who repeatedly raped his 15-year-old daughter for nearly a year with the result that she delivered a child.
A division bench of justices DD Sinha and VK Tahilramani was hearing the appeal of Patrick Nathan, challenging the September 16, 2004, order of the additional sessions judge, Nashik, convicting him under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and sentencing him to rigorous imprisonment for life.
The judges said corroboration of the testimony of a victim of sexual offence may be considered essential against the backdrop of the Western world’s social ecology. “But it is unnecessary to import the said concept and to transplant it on Indian soil regardless of the different atmosphere, attitudes, mores, responses of the Indian society and its profile,” they added. “Rarely will a girl or a woman in India make false allegations of sexual assault due to various psycho-social factors.”
According to the prosecution, Reena (name changed), an only child, resided with her father at Wagle Estate, Thane. Seven years prior to the incident, her mother left home and her whereabouts were unknown. Nathan worked in a liquor den and daily returned home drunk. In April 2002, he raped Reena. When she objected, he paid no heed and told her not to disclose it to anyone. He raped her on many occasions thereafter.
When she complained of stomach pain, a neighbour took her to a doctor who said she was pregnant. Reena said it was because of her father. Reena delivered a male child on June 7, 2003.
Nathan pleaded not guilty, saying he was implicated by his estranged wife. Neighbours testified that his wife left the house due to harassment. The first time she took Reena along, but Nathan traced her and brought them home.
The second time, she left alone and there was no news of her. They testified that they often heard Reena weeping and crying: “Father, leave me.” Reena told them that Nathan threatened to throw acid on her face. He stored it at home for throwing on his wife.
DNA
When Indian women cry rape, it is likely to be genuine: HC
When a girl or woman in India alleges rape, there is a “built-in assurance” that the charge is genuine, observed the Bombay high court while dismissing the appeal of a father who repeatedly raped his 15-year-old daughter for nearly a year with the result that she delivered a child.
A division bench of justices DD Sinha and VK Tahilramani was hearing the appeal of Patrick Nathan, challenging the September 16, 2004, order of the additional sessions judge, Nashik, convicting him under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and sentencing him to rigorous imprisonment for life.
The judges said corroboration of the testimony of a victim of sexual offence may be considered essential against the backdrop of the Western world’s social ecology. “But it is unnecessary to import the said concept and to transplant it on Indian soil regardless of the different atmosphere, attitudes, mores, responses of the Indian society and its profile,” they added. “Rarely will a girl or a woman in India make false allegations of sexual assault due to various psycho-social factors.”
According to the prosecution, Reena (name changed), an only child, resided with her father at Wagle Estate, Thane. Seven years prior to the incident, her mother left home and her whereabouts were unknown. Nathan worked in a liquor den and daily returned home drunk. In April 2002, he raped Reena. When she objected, he paid no heed and told her not to disclose it to anyone. He raped her on many occasions thereafter.
When she complained of stomach pain, a neighbour took her to a doctor who said she was pregnant. Reena said it was because of her father. Reena delivered a male child on June 7, 2003.
Nathan pleaded not guilty, saying he was implicated by his estranged wife. Neighbours testified that his wife left the house due to harassment. The first time she took Reena along, but Nathan traced her and brought them home.
The second time, she left alone and there was no news of her. They testified that they often heard Reena weeping and crying: “Father, leave me.” Reena told them that Nathan threatened to throw acid on her face. He stored it at home for throwing on his wife.
December 21, 2010
20.12.10
Hindustan Times
Child abuse Bill to have biting powers
A child abuse Bill is getting closer to reality, with the Cabinet set to consider a special law in the coming few weeks. Union minister for women and child development Krishna Tirath told HT that she had sought cabinet approval for the Bill.
“The Indian Penal Code (IPC) does not distinguish between adult and child victims, and we are very clear about the need to protect innocent children from sexual abuse of any kind,” she said.
Source say child abuse by those in a position of trust and authority, repeat offences, and abuse of children in especially vulnerable circumstances, are set to become more serious crimes with extra stringent punishments.
The new Bill is likely to have certain path-breaking features, according more gravity to sexual abuse by family, guardians, and others who live in the same house.
Abuse by police officers, within police stations, officers of the armed forces or other security forces, public servants, and by employees in jails, remand homes, protection homes, observation homes, hospitals and educational institutions, would all be categorised as "aggravated" offences, it is known.
The law, if passed by Cabinet and subsequently Parliament, will take an equally harsh view of sexual assault committed on a child in the course of communal or sectarian violence. Aggravated offences will attract a term of not less than five years and may extend to seven years.
The ministry has also proposed that the amount of fine that accompanies such offences be left to the discretion of the courts with no upper limit.
The category of aggravated offences would also include any abuse of a child below the age of 12 or is physically or mentally challenged. The proposed Bill further views the use of weapons, fire, heated substances, poison, corrosive substances, explosive substances or animal, to cause sexual abuse, as aggravated offences too.
"The inclusion of these terms is in itself an indicator that unfortunately such offences have been committed in the past," a senior ministry official said.
Similarly, sexually assaulting a child as a result of which he/she becomes pregnant, mentally ill, or unfit to perform regular tasks, gets infected with HIV or any other life-threatening or lifestyle-impairing illness, would be aggravated offence
Hindustan Times
Child abuse Bill to have biting powers
A child abuse Bill is getting closer to reality, with the Cabinet set to consider a special law in the coming few weeks. Union minister for women and child development Krishna Tirath told HT that she had sought cabinet approval for the Bill.
“The Indian Penal Code (IPC) does not distinguish between adult and child victims, and we are very clear about the need to protect innocent children from sexual abuse of any kind,” she said.
Source say child abuse by those in a position of trust and authority, repeat offences, and abuse of children in especially vulnerable circumstances, are set to become more serious crimes with extra stringent punishments.
The new Bill is likely to have certain path-breaking features, according more gravity to sexual abuse by family, guardians, and others who live in the same house.
Abuse by police officers, within police stations, officers of the armed forces or other security forces, public servants, and by employees in jails, remand homes, protection homes, observation homes, hospitals and educational institutions, would all be categorised as "aggravated" offences, it is known.
The law, if passed by Cabinet and subsequently Parliament, will take an equally harsh view of sexual assault committed on a child in the course of communal or sectarian violence. Aggravated offences will attract a term of not less than five years and may extend to seven years.
The ministry has also proposed that the amount of fine that accompanies such offences be left to the discretion of the courts with no upper limit.
The category of aggravated offences would also include any abuse of a child below the age of 12 or is physically or mentally challenged. The proposed Bill further views the use of weapons, fire, heated substances, poison, corrosive substances, explosive substances or animal, to cause sexual abuse, as aggravated offences too.
"The inclusion of these terms is in itself an indicator that unfortunately such offences have been committed in the past," a senior ministry official said.
Similarly, sexually assaulting a child as a result of which he/she becomes pregnant, mentally ill, or unfit to perform regular tasks, gets infected with HIV or any other life-threatening or lifestyle-impairing illness, would be aggravated offence
December 20, 2010
15.12.10
Times of India
Switzerland drafts law to make incest legal
London: Incest could soon become legal in Switzerland as the Swiss government is considering repealing its laws on sexual relations between family members,according to a media report.
The government is claiming that the law banning incest is obsolete and there have been only three such cases since 1984,the Telegraph reported.
The upper house of the Swiss parliament has drafted a law decriminalizing sex between consenting family members which must now be considered by the government, it said.
Switzerland,which recently held a referendum passing a draconian law that will boot out foreigners convicted of committing the smallest of crimes,however,insists that children within families will continue to be protected by laws governing sexual abuse and paedophilia.Daniel Vischer,a Green party Minister of Parliament,said he saw nothing wrong with two consenting adults having sex,even if they were related.
Incest is a difficult moral question,but not one that is answered by penal law, he was quoted as saying.Barbara Schmid Federer of The Christian Peoples Party of Switzerland,however,said the proposal from the upper house was completely repugnant.I for one could not countenance painting out such a law from the statute books.
The Protestant Peoples Party is also opposed to decriminalizing the offence of incest which at present carries a maximum three year jail term.A spokesman for the party said: Murder is also quite rare in Switzerland but no one suggests that we remove that as an office from the statutes. PTI
18.12.10
Mumbai Mirror
14-yr-olds are UK’s youngest parents
The children began dating last Sept but are now confused over the future of their relationship
London A pair of school kids, both aged 14, have become UK’s youngest parents.
The baby was born last month weighing 8lb 14 oz, but the news of the birth was announced on Friday.
The two children, who are both still in school, are believed to be the youngest parents in the history of the country.
April Webster delivered a boy after getting pregnant when she and the child’s father Nathan Fishbourne were just 13, The Sun said of Webster who lives in Caerphilly, South Wales. The four-week-old child, Jamie, is living with Webster and her parents.
But Fishbourne said: “I’d love to have him at weekends - and April can have him five days during the week.”
The teenagers, who began having unprotected sex after they started dating in September last year, are also confused over the state of their relationship.
Webster said, “He has not turned his back on the baby but he’s asking to do things like have him stay over at his house and that has caused some arguments.” Fishbourne also admitted: “I’ve not thought about our future yet as that’s a long way off.”
However, the determined mum said, “Jamie wasn’t planned, but I’m going to be a great mum for him. He’s perfect and I’m going to give him everything he ever wants.”
20.12.10
Times of India
MP records highest rape cases in 2008
New Delhi: The number of rape cases across the country has increased with Madhya Pradesh reporting highest number of such crimes, according to an official data.
In most of these cases, the perpetrator of the crime was an acquaintance with the victim, according to data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau.
A total of 21,467 rape cases were reported in 2008, registering an increase of 3.5 per cent over the previous year. Provisional data for 2009 shows that 21,397 rape cases were reported during the year.
Madhya Pradesh reported as many as 2,937 cases, accounting for 13.7 per cent and highest of total rape cases, followed by West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh at 2,263 and 1,871 cases respectively.
These states were followed by Maharashtra (1,558), Assam (1,438), Rajasthan (1,355) and Bihar (1,302). The lowest number of cases were reported from Nagaland (19).
Women in the age-group of 18-30 years appeared most vulnerable to the crime.
In 2008, 57.2 per cent (12,299) of the victims were from this age group, only 0.5 per cent less than in 2007 (11,984). In as many as 91 per cent (19,542) of these cases, the offenders were known to the victims. Neighbours were accused in 33.1 per cent of rape cases.
Worried over these figures, the Consultative Committee of the Parliament attached to the Ministry of Women and Child Development at its recent meeting decided to focus on the principle of restorative justice to help the victims of the heinous crime survive.
"Rape is one of the most violent forms of crimes against women, which not only impacts her bodily integrity but in the long-run, impairs her capacity to develop meaningful personal and social relationships, and affects her life and livelihood," Minister of State for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath said in the meeting.
She said the Supreme Court had directed the National Commission for Women (NCW) to evolve a "scheme so as to wipe out the tears of unfortunate victims of rape".
19.12.10
DNA
2010: The year crimes on minors sent shivers down Mumbai’s spine
This year, the city bore witness to several gruesome incidents in which minors were raped and murdered, leading to a public outcry that was widely covered by the media, highlighting the chilling fact that children in this city are far from safe. Here are some of them, which still remain unsolved despite massive pressure on the police.
Nehru Nagar nightmare
Of the many cases of child rape and murder registered this year, of the cases that continue to elude the police in spite of their best efforts and leads from the Forensic Science Laboratory, the Nehru Nagar cases have been the most high profile.
The first such one to light when the body of a five-year-old girl who had gone missing from near her residence, was found in the stairway of the eight-storey Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in the Vatsala Tai Nagar locality in Kurla, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Nehru Nagar police station.
The body was found in a gunny bag, which was covered with blood stains of the victim. A subsequent medical examination revealed that she had been repeatedly raped and then strangulated.
Less than a month later, Nehru Nagar police were alerted that a nine-year-old girl from the Qureshi Nagar locality near Kurla station was missing. A search was launched by people from the locality and authorities too jumped into action. Police officials alerted the control room and an extensive search was carried out in Kurla and nearby areas.
The railway police were also involved and wireless alerts were sent throughout the city to look for the girl.
The biggest shock came the next day, when the body of the victim was found dumped on the terrace of the police quarters building, located right opposite the Nehru Nagar police station. This time too, the body was found stained in blood and a medical examination revealed that the victim had been raped and then strangulated to death.
Clueless chaos
Subsequently, the Nehru Nagar police picked up several people for questioning. A person identified as Mohammad Ajmeri was arrested on charges of raping and killing the minor but his DNA did not match with that found on the victim’s body. In the absence of any other strong evidence against Ajmeri, he was released on bail.
It was later discovered that the DNA found on the bodies of both the victims was the same, pointing to the fact that the same person had committed both these heinous rape and murders.
The third case of rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl took place under the jurisdiction of the same police station which created a sensitive situation in the locality. People accused the police of not being able to control law and order, and preventing such incidents from happening.
Eleven days later, the body of the third victim was found in a locked shanty in a decomposed state. Medical examination of the body revealed that she was repeatedly raped for two days and then killed.
In response to the public outrage, several hundreds of people were picked up for questioning by the police and a record number of DNA samples of around 800 people were taken. One of these samples matched with the DNA found on the body of the third victim and led to the arrest of nineteen-year-old youth Javed Shaikh who is currently in custody at the Arthur Road jail.
Stumped once more
However, the arrest did little to calm the minds of concerned parents across the city when onceagain, a three-year-old boy went missing from his residence in Kajupada in Ghatkopar.
His body was found dumped in a cabin outside the Maharashtra Navnirman Vahtuk Sena (MNVS) office near Sunderbaug Industrial Estate in Kamani, around half a kilometre from the victim’s residence.
The victim’s throat had been slit using a sharp weapon. Local police and crime branch officials questioned more than a hundred people but the case remains unsolved till date. The motive behind the murder is still unclear but old injuries were found on the victim’s private parts which points out that the victim had been sexually abused prior to his murder.
A senior police officer said, “In the Nehru Nagar cases, the only evidence that the police have is the DNA samples. So a large number of suspects are being put through DNA tests so that the accused can be nabbed. The accused had used the same modus operandi in both the cases and we are working on a few other clues which will help us close in on the accused.”
Similarly in the Ghatkopar murder case, police have no evidence or clues about the accused but it is being suspected that someone known to the victim could be involved.
Apart from these high profile cases, several other incidents of rapes of minors were reported in the city this year. If numbers continue to rise, authorities will undoubtedly be held accountable, as the city has displayed an outward refusal to stand by and watch such horrors take place.
20.12.10
Times of India
Remand homes in a pathetic state
Mumbai:Juveniles sent to childrens remand homes face overcrowding,unhygienic conditions,sexual abuse by older inmates and lack of counselors.
According to city police sources,there is a shortage of such homes across the country.Sometimes,all juveniles aged 7 to 18 are housed under a single roof,leading to sexual abuse of the younger lot.The rehabilitation of children can also take a backseat to the misappropriation of funds.
Apolice source said the Dongri childrens home has a capacity for 450 boys and 150 girls,but is overcrowded.
State DGP D Sivanandhan said,The childrens and womens welfare department is responsible for any situation at Dongri. Varsha Gaikwad,minister of state for women and child development,said,I will check out the issues.If misappropriation or illegal activities are observed,then action will be taken against the guilty.
In November,the Bombay High Court appointed professor Asha Bajpai of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences as chairperson of the Maharashtra State Co-ordination Committee.The panel will advise the government on rehabilitation of juveniles.TNN
Parental support vital during counselling
Mumbai: City-based psychiatrists say that out of 10 juvenile delinquents,an average of six are successfully counselled to return to a normal life.According to psychiatrists,to achieve this success it can take just a day,or the counseling may stretch to a week,months,a year or even two.However,to bring about a transformation,the child must get proper and careful support from the parents or guardians before and after the counselling sessions, they say.
Through counselling,psychiatrists have identified peer pressure,a desire for lavish lifestyles,too much freedom from parents and even simple curiosity as triggers for juvenile crime.The basic reason for many children below 18 coming into conflict with the law is a desire to fulfill dreams through short cuts.They take a risk without thinking of the consequences.Getting used to the availability of easy money at home can also make a child get into trouble, said city-based psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty,who has counselled over 5,000 juveniles in the city since 2005.
Hardly a decade ago,children stole a bicycle and sold it to fulfill an immediate need.As time passed,the situation changed and the younger generation has now graduated to committing thefts from neighbours,friends and even their own homes.They are pickpocketing,planning their own kidnappings and even forming gangs, said Shetty.
Shetty said that a lack of proper attention from parents can lead children down wrong paths.If the children are not made aware today,time will take them slowly and quietly,and with much anguish and bewilderment,into a confused world.So the need of the hour is to love the youth,and nurture,develop and give them strength before it is too late, said the psychiatrist.
Shetty said the term counselling has been rewritten and it is now a dialogue between the juvenile and the counsellor.If a counsellor behaves and treats the juvenile like a parent,then it is impossible for us to get in to their groove and solve their problem.It is a must for us to firstly think just like a child and gain their trust when starting the treatment, said Shetty.
In India,counsellors may use the EEG (electro-encephalogram ) brain-mapping test and psychological evaluation test to treat juveniles.According to Dr Supriya Ghase,To find out about the circumstances that leads juveniles to commit crime,they first use EEG,through which they learn about several problems,like soft neurological signs,behavioural disturbance signs,attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,etc.It helps the counsellor or medical practitioner choose which kind of therapy is best suited depending on the nature of the juvenile.
Times of India
Switzerland drafts law to make incest legal
London: Incest could soon become legal in Switzerland as the Swiss government is considering repealing its laws on sexual relations between family members,according to a media report.
The government is claiming that the law banning incest is obsolete and there have been only three such cases since 1984,the Telegraph reported.
The upper house of the Swiss parliament has drafted a law decriminalizing sex between consenting family members which must now be considered by the government, it said.
Switzerland,which recently held a referendum passing a draconian law that will boot out foreigners convicted of committing the smallest of crimes,however,insists that children within families will continue to be protected by laws governing sexual abuse and paedophilia.Daniel Vischer,a Green party Minister of Parliament,said he saw nothing wrong with two consenting adults having sex,even if they were related.
Incest is a difficult moral question,but not one that is answered by penal law, he was quoted as saying.Barbara Schmid Federer of The Christian Peoples Party of Switzerland,however,said the proposal from the upper house was completely repugnant.I for one could not countenance painting out such a law from the statute books.
The Protestant Peoples Party is also opposed to decriminalizing the offence of incest which at present carries a maximum three year jail term.A spokesman for the party said: Murder is also quite rare in Switzerland but no one suggests that we remove that as an office from the statutes. PTI
18.12.10
Mumbai Mirror
14-yr-olds are UK’s youngest parents
The children began dating last Sept but are now confused over the future of their relationship
London A pair of school kids, both aged 14, have become UK’s youngest parents.
The baby was born last month weighing 8lb 14 oz, but the news of the birth was announced on Friday.
The two children, who are both still in school, are believed to be the youngest parents in the history of the country.
April Webster delivered a boy after getting pregnant when she and the child’s father Nathan Fishbourne were just 13, The Sun said of Webster who lives in Caerphilly, South Wales. The four-week-old child, Jamie, is living with Webster and her parents.
But Fishbourne said: “I’d love to have him at weekends - and April can have him five days during the week.”
The teenagers, who began having unprotected sex after they started dating in September last year, are also confused over the state of their relationship.
Webster said, “He has not turned his back on the baby but he’s asking to do things like have him stay over at his house and that has caused some arguments.” Fishbourne also admitted: “I’ve not thought about our future yet as that’s a long way off.”
However, the determined mum said, “Jamie wasn’t planned, but I’m going to be a great mum for him. He’s perfect and I’m going to give him everything he ever wants.”
20.12.10
Times of India
MP records highest rape cases in 2008
New Delhi: The number of rape cases across the country has increased with Madhya Pradesh reporting highest number of such crimes, according to an official data.
In most of these cases, the perpetrator of the crime was an acquaintance with the victim, according to data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau.
A total of 21,467 rape cases were reported in 2008, registering an increase of 3.5 per cent over the previous year. Provisional data for 2009 shows that 21,397 rape cases were reported during the year.
Madhya Pradesh reported as many as 2,937 cases, accounting for 13.7 per cent and highest of total rape cases, followed by West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh at 2,263 and 1,871 cases respectively.
These states were followed by Maharashtra (1,558), Assam (1,438), Rajasthan (1,355) and Bihar (1,302). The lowest number of cases were reported from Nagaland (19).
Women in the age-group of 18-30 years appeared most vulnerable to the crime.
In 2008, 57.2 per cent (12,299) of the victims were from this age group, only 0.5 per cent less than in 2007 (11,984). In as many as 91 per cent (19,542) of these cases, the offenders were known to the victims. Neighbours were accused in 33.1 per cent of rape cases.
Worried over these figures, the Consultative Committee of the Parliament attached to the Ministry of Women and Child Development at its recent meeting decided to focus on the principle of restorative justice to help the victims of the heinous crime survive.
"Rape is one of the most violent forms of crimes against women, which not only impacts her bodily integrity but in the long-run, impairs her capacity to develop meaningful personal and social relationships, and affects her life and livelihood," Minister of State for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath said in the meeting.
She said the Supreme Court had directed the National Commission for Women (NCW) to evolve a "scheme so as to wipe out the tears of unfortunate victims of rape".
19.12.10
DNA
2010: The year crimes on minors sent shivers down Mumbai’s spine
This year, the city bore witness to several gruesome incidents in which minors were raped and murdered, leading to a public outcry that was widely covered by the media, highlighting the chilling fact that children in this city are far from safe. Here are some of them, which still remain unsolved despite massive pressure on the police.
Nehru Nagar nightmare
Of the many cases of child rape and murder registered this year, of the cases that continue to elude the police in spite of their best efforts and leads from the Forensic Science Laboratory, the Nehru Nagar cases have been the most high profile.
The first such one to light when the body of a five-year-old girl who had gone missing from near her residence, was found in the stairway of the eight-storey Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in the Vatsala Tai Nagar locality in Kurla, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Nehru Nagar police station.
The body was found in a gunny bag, which was covered with blood stains of the victim. A subsequent medical examination revealed that she had been repeatedly raped and then strangulated.
Less than a month later, Nehru Nagar police were alerted that a nine-year-old girl from the Qureshi Nagar locality near Kurla station was missing. A search was launched by people from the locality and authorities too jumped into action. Police officials alerted the control room and an extensive search was carried out in Kurla and nearby areas.
The railway police were also involved and wireless alerts were sent throughout the city to look for the girl.
The biggest shock came the next day, when the body of the victim was found dumped on the terrace of the police quarters building, located right opposite the Nehru Nagar police station. This time too, the body was found stained in blood and a medical examination revealed that the victim had been raped and then strangulated to death.
Clueless chaos
Subsequently, the Nehru Nagar police picked up several people for questioning. A person identified as Mohammad Ajmeri was arrested on charges of raping and killing the minor but his DNA did not match with that found on the victim’s body. In the absence of any other strong evidence against Ajmeri, he was released on bail.
It was later discovered that the DNA found on the bodies of both the victims was the same, pointing to the fact that the same person had committed both these heinous rape and murders.
The third case of rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl took place under the jurisdiction of the same police station which created a sensitive situation in the locality. People accused the police of not being able to control law and order, and preventing such incidents from happening.
Eleven days later, the body of the third victim was found in a locked shanty in a decomposed state. Medical examination of the body revealed that she was repeatedly raped for two days and then killed.
In response to the public outrage, several hundreds of people were picked up for questioning by the police and a record number of DNA samples of around 800 people were taken. One of these samples matched with the DNA found on the body of the third victim and led to the arrest of nineteen-year-old youth Javed Shaikh who is currently in custody at the Arthur Road jail.
Stumped once more
However, the arrest did little to calm the minds of concerned parents across the city when onceagain, a three-year-old boy went missing from his residence in Kajupada in Ghatkopar.
His body was found dumped in a cabin outside the Maharashtra Navnirman Vahtuk Sena (MNVS) office near Sunderbaug Industrial Estate in Kamani, around half a kilometre from the victim’s residence.
The victim’s throat had been slit using a sharp weapon. Local police and crime branch officials questioned more than a hundred people but the case remains unsolved till date. The motive behind the murder is still unclear but old injuries were found on the victim’s private parts which points out that the victim had been sexually abused prior to his murder.
A senior police officer said, “In the Nehru Nagar cases, the only evidence that the police have is the DNA samples. So a large number of suspects are being put through DNA tests so that the accused can be nabbed. The accused had used the same modus operandi in both the cases and we are working on a few other clues which will help us close in on the accused.”
Similarly in the Ghatkopar murder case, police have no evidence or clues about the accused but it is being suspected that someone known to the victim could be involved.
Apart from these high profile cases, several other incidents of rapes of minors were reported in the city this year. If numbers continue to rise, authorities will undoubtedly be held accountable, as the city has displayed an outward refusal to stand by and watch such horrors take place.
20.12.10
Times of India
Remand homes in a pathetic state
Mumbai:Juveniles sent to childrens remand homes face overcrowding,unhygienic conditions,sexual abuse by older inmates and lack of counselors.
According to city police sources,there is a shortage of such homes across the country.Sometimes,all juveniles aged 7 to 18 are housed under a single roof,leading to sexual abuse of the younger lot.The rehabilitation of children can also take a backseat to the misappropriation of funds.
Apolice source said the Dongri childrens home has a capacity for 450 boys and 150 girls,but is overcrowded.
State DGP D Sivanandhan said,The childrens and womens welfare department is responsible for any situation at Dongri. Varsha Gaikwad,minister of state for women and child development,said,I will check out the issues.If misappropriation or illegal activities are observed,then action will be taken against the guilty.
In November,the Bombay High Court appointed professor Asha Bajpai of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences as chairperson of the Maharashtra State Co-ordination Committee.The panel will advise the government on rehabilitation of juveniles.TNN
Parental support vital during counselling
Mumbai: City-based psychiatrists say that out of 10 juvenile delinquents,an average of six are successfully counselled to return to a normal life.According to psychiatrists,to achieve this success it can take just a day,or the counseling may stretch to a week,months,a year or even two.However,to bring about a transformation,the child must get proper and careful support from the parents or guardians before and after the counselling sessions, they say.
Through counselling,psychiatrists have identified peer pressure,a desire for lavish lifestyles,too much freedom from parents and even simple curiosity as triggers for juvenile crime.The basic reason for many children below 18 coming into conflict with the law is a desire to fulfill dreams through short cuts.They take a risk without thinking of the consequences.Getting used to the availability of easy money at home can also make a child get into trouble, said city-based psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty,who has counselled over 5,000 juveniles in the city since 2005.
Hardly a decade ago,children stole a bicycle and sold it to fulfill an immediate need.As time passed,the situation changed and the younger generation has now graduated to committing thefts from neighbours,friends and even their own homes.They are pickpocketing,planning their own kidnappings and even forming gangs, said Shetty.
Shetty said that a lack of proper attention from parents can lead children down wrong paths.If the children are not made aware today,time will take them slowly and quietly,and with much anguish and bewilderment,into a confused world.So the need of the hour is to love the youth,and nurture,develop and give them strength before it is too late, said the psychiatrist.
Shetty said the term counselling has been rewritten and it is now a dialogue between the juvenile and the counsellor.If a counsellor behaves and treats the juvenile like a parent,then it is impossible for us to get in to their groove and solve their problem.It is a must for us to firstly think just like a child and gain their trust when starting the treatment, said Shetty.
In India,counsellors may use the EEG (electro-encephalogram ) brain-mapping test and psychological evaluation test to treat juveniles.According to Dr Supriya Ghase,To find out about the circumstances that leads juveniles to commit crime,they first use EEG,through which they learn about several problems,like soft neurological signs,behavioural disturbance signs,attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,etc.It helps the counsellor or medical practitioner choose which kind of therapy is best suited depending on the nature of the juvenile.
December 14, 2010
9.12.10
Times of India
FBI issues warning over Barbie 'Video Girl' which could be used by paedophiles to make child pornography
Parents are being warned that a new Barbie doll that features a built-in video camera could be used as a tool by paedophiles to make child pornography.
The Barbie 'Video Girl', which is on sale in the UK and the U.S., has a hidden camera in the chest and a small LCD screen video display in her back.
A 'cyber crime alert' from the FBI has said the doll, which went on sale in July, could be used to record footage used for distribution by paedophiles.
It said: 'FBI investigation has revealed instances where an individual convicted of distributing child pornography had given a Barbie doll to a six-year-old girl.
The document went on to cite the findings of another investigation which found 'examples where a concealed video camera had recorded child pornography'.
That camera did not involve a doll, FBI agent Frederick Gutt said, but the possible combination of the two in a single device presents concerns for investigators.
There have been no recorded incidents of paedophiles using the Barbie 'Video Girl' to prey on young children.
The alert adds: 'Law enforcement is encouraged to be aware of unconventional avenues for possible production and possession of child pornography, such as the Barbie Video Girl.'
Video Girl can capture up to 30 minutes of footage and the video can be downloaded and streamed live to a computer. There is no indication it can be streamed directly to the internet.
The alert was written in the U.S. for law agencies only, but was mistakenly sent to media outlets in Seattle.
Agent Steve Dupre told CNN: 'It was an inadvertent dissemination of the document.
'There have been no reported incidents of this doll being used as anything other than as intended.'
William Porress, from Tacoma, Washington, said he would not buy one of the dolls for his six-year-old granddaughter.
'That plays into these people who prey upon our children's ideals. It frightens me.
'Oh, she would love it, but she's more important to me than a giggle on Christmas morning.'
A statement from Mattel Inc, which makes the doll, said: 'The FBI is not reporting that anything has happened. Steve Dupre from the FBI Sacramento field office has confirmed there have been no incidents of this doll being used as anything other than its intent.
'Mattel products are designed with children and their best interests in mind. Many of Mattel's employees are parents themselves and we understand the importance of child safety - it is our number one priority.'
The Barbie doll, which costs $49.99 (£32), is aimed at children six and above and has been nominated for the 2011 Toy of the Year Award.
13.12.10
Times of India
Sin city: 4 gangrapes in 2 mnths
Delhi Girl Raped As 600 Policemen Hunt For Car In Vain
New Delhi: In a city that witnesses at least one rape each day433 cases have occurred this year the report of yet another abduction and gangrape of a young woman has raised several questions about the safety of women in the national captial. Sundays gangrape was the fourth in the span of two months. The heinous act also shows the extent to which louts feel emboldened to harass women the resident of Sultanpuri was allegedly raped because she protested against lewd comments by criminals.
To make matters worse, the latest incident has raised questions about the efficiency of the police force. Six hundred policemen took two hours to find the woman even after they received a call that she had been abducted. By the time they found her, the 18-year-old had been gangraped inside a moving car by two men. Four people, including a minor, have been arrested.
As part of her routine, the victim would pick up her mother, who works in a Mongolpuri factory, whenever she worked extra hours. On Saturday night, on her way to her mothers factory, she was accompanied by her neighbour Ravi, said JCP (northern range) Karnal Singh. The accused Rama (28),Chandrapal (23),Dabbu (25) and a 14-year-old boy were out on a joyride in Ramas Hyundai Accent. All the three adults in the group work as drivers. None of the accused had any prior brush with the law, apart from Ravi who was involved in a fight in 2007.Police officers say Dabbu and the boy were not involved in the rape as they got off the car before it happened. The police found beer bottles from the car of the accused. Around 10.15 pm, the victim and her companion reached the Aman Vihar sector 20 park where they were accosted by the car occupants, who started passing lewd comments about her. The victim told us that the accused were drunk. When she protested, an argument broke out, said DCP Chhaya Sharma.
Describing the sequence of events, Sharma said the argument lasted for a few minutes before the accused decided to drive ahead.But the girl was angry and she snatched Ravis factory keys and smashed the rear glass of the car. The accused then allegedly decided to teach the victim a lesson. The four occupants then forced the girl inside the vehicle by tugging at her salwar suit and drove off towards the Nangloi railway crossing. Initially, the accused asked the girl to pay up for the damages. As punishment for her deed, the accused even beat her up. We found several cuts and bruises on her cheek, the DCP said.
About an hour later, after two of the accused Dabbu and the minor got off, Rama and Chandrapal took turns to rape her.
12.12.10
DNA
The second assault at police hospital
Rape victims at the Nagpada police hospital endure crude forensic examinations with no medical treatment; are subject to bullying by cops and callous hospital clerks; and many find the horrendous medico-legal procedures a nightmare as bad as the one inflicted on them by the rapist.
One December evening last year, four-year-old Priya, the daughter of a construction worker, was out playing near her house in Kalwa, northern Thane. They had only recently moved to a shanty there, after the municipal authorities found their house in Vikhroli to be ‘illegal’ and razed it.
A neighbourhood drug addict spotted Priya playing alone. He kidnapped her, took her to a secluded spot, raped her, and dumped her in a nearby swamp. Priya had lost consciousness and her inert body was fished out from the swamp. The rapist was caught by the police. Priya was taken to the hospital for a forensic examination and treatment — and there, she underwent an ordeal that was perhaps as heinous as the sexual assault she had suffered.
After the incident, the family moved back to Vikhroli, with the idea of taking the girl away from a place where she had undergone such trauma, to help her recover. But two months later, Priya still hadn’t stopped crying — she was in tremendous pain. She could not urinate, her genitals burned, she could not walk, and she could not even sit down without slivers of pain shooting through her body. While the sexual assault was the primary cause of all this, equally responsible was the lack of medical treatment at the hospital she had been taken to.
Manisha Tulbule, a lawyer and social worker who is handling Priya’s case, says the hospital did not give the girl even the basic medical attention any rape victim would require. “Priya had been taken to the Thane Civil Hospital immediately after the incident. But the hospital only did a forensic examination for rape. Vaginal swabs and blood tests were taken, but neither did they give her medical treatment, nor did they refer her to another hospital. They didn’t follow the standard procedures for rape victims, such as checking for STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) and HIV infections,” she says.
A solution worse than the problem
The hospital that Priya was taken to is not the only one at fault. In fact, treatment of rape victims in most public hospitals is dismal. The worst, according to activists, is the Nagpada Police Hospital, which receives over 1,000 rape cases in a year.
SM Patil is the police surgeon at this hospital, the demigod around whom the hospital bureaucracy revolves. He is a small man with a big moustache and a big pair of glasses. Bigger still is his brightly-lit office, opening on to a courtyard with a separate driveway. Big man that he is, he is naturally a busy man. He is part of a team that is drafting a new manual on how doctors and cops in Maharashtra should deal with victims of sexual assault.
After initial denials, he eventually admitted to this reporter that he was indeed drafting such a manual, along with members from the home department, the department of medical education, and the directorate of health services. But he wouldn’t talk about it.
Why this strange coyness in talking about what, on the surface, seems like a progressive step?
In February 2010, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court against the state of Maharashtra and the Union government. The PIL was based on a study by Dr Indrajit Khandekar, titled ‘Pitiable And Horrendous Quality Of Forensic Medical Examination Of The Sexually Assaulted Victims In India’. Dr Khandekar had scrutinised the manner in which rape victims were dealt with by police personnel and doctors.
In response, the Maharashtra government tried to ‘rectify’ the problem. So in June 2010, the government came up with a directive asking all government hospitals to use the Nagpada police hospital’s pro forma. The trouble is this ‘official’ pro forma is a source of humiliation all over again: it prescribes the two-finger test, takes a broad consent for all tests (no matter that the traumatised victim may not be comfortable with some specific tests), asks for, among other things, the mental state in which the victim reaches the hospital, and the victim’s build.
Of all these, the most execrable is the two-finger test. Researcher Aruna Kashyap published a study in August 2010, showing how the two-finger test is still being conducted in Indian hospitals. She showed how the defence counsel still uses this information in courts (if two-fingers can be inserted into the victim’s vagina) to term the victim a person of ‘loose’ moral character.
Kashyap is also shocked by other elements in the pro forma.
“What is the purpose of recording the victim’s ‘mental state’ and ‘build’?” she asks. “If the victim is small-built and she comes crying, then apparently there is a good chance that she was raped. But what if she has been raped, but is not of small build and is not weeping? Also, the victim should be allowed to decline certain tests that she might be uncomfortable with. One can’t take a broad consent, as is being done now. For instance, not everyone who has been raped just hours before, would be comfortable with the two-finger test.”
In fact, the pro forma is just part of the problem. In November 2008, the research and health advocacy group CEHAT observed for 10 days how the Nagpada hospital handled cases of sexual assault. They were shocked. “The clerk who was supposed to take down the victim’s details was actually talking to her in an accusatory tone. He was asking her, ‘How many times did you go out with the rapist?’, ‘Did you do some wrong thing with him?’, ‘Oh you went with him! Very good’,” says Padma Deosthali, coordinator, CEHAT, who was part of the team of researchers.
Times of India
FBI issues warning over Barbie 'Video Girl' which could be used by paedophiles to make child pornography
Parents are being warned that a new Barbie doll that features a built-in video camera could be used as a tool by paedophiles to make child pornography.
The Barbie 'Video Girl', which is on sale in the UK and the U.S., has a hidden camera in the chest and a small LCD screen video display in her back.
A 'cyber crime alert' from the FBI has said the doll, which went on sale in July, could be used to record footage used for distribution by paedophiles.
It said: 'FBI investigation has revealed instances where an individual convicted of distributing child pornography had given a Barbie doll to a six-year-old girl.
The document went on to cite the findings of another investigation which found 'examples where a concealed video camera had recorded child pornography'.
That camera did not involve a doll, FBI agent Frederick Gutt said, but the possible combination of the two in a single device presents concerns for investigators.
There have been no recorded incidents of paedophiles using the Barbie 'Video Girl' to prey on young children.
The alert adds: 'Law enforcement is encouraged to be aware of unconventional avenues for possible production and possession of child pornography, such as the Barbie Video Girl.'
Video Girl can capture up to 30 minutes of footage and the video can be downloaded and streamed live to a computer. There is no indication it can be streamed directly to the internet.
The alert was written in the U.S. for law agencies only, but was mistakenly sent to media outlets in Seattle.
Agent Steve Dupre told CNN: 'It was an inadvertent dissemination of the document.
'There have been no reported incidents of this doll being used as anything other than as intended.'
William Porress, from Tacoma, Washington, said he would not buy one of the dolls for his six-year-old granddaughter.
'That plays into these people who prey upon our children's ideals. It frightens me.
'Oh, she would love it, but she's more important to me than a giggle on Christmas morning.'
A statement from Mattel Inc, which makes the doll, said: 'The FBI is not reporting that anything has happened. Steve Dupre from the FBI Sacramento field office has confirmed there have been no incidents of this doll being used as anything other than its intent.
'Mattel products are designed with children and their best interests in mind. Many of Mattel's employees are parents themselves and we understand the importance of child safety - it is our number one priority.'
The Barbie doll, which costs $49.99 (£32), is aimed at children six and above and has been nominated for the 2011 Toy of the Year Award.
13.12.10
Times of India
Sin city: 4 gangrapes in 2 mnths
Delhi Girl Raped As 600 Policemen Hunt For Car In Vain
New Delhi: In a city that witnesses at least one rape each day433 cases have occurred this year the report of yet another abduction and gangrape of a young woman has raised several questions about the safety of women in the national captial. Sundays gangrape was the fourth in the span of two months. The heinous act also shows the extent to which louts feel emboldened to harass women the resident of Sultanpuri was allegedly raped because she protested against lewd comments by criminals.
To make matters worse, the latest incident has raised questions about the efficiency of the police force. Six hundred policemen took two hours to find the woman even after they received a call that she had been abducted. By the time they found her, the 18-year-old had been gangraped inside a moving car by two men. Four people, including a minor, have been arrested.
As part of her routine, the victim would pick up her mother, who works in a Mongolpuri factory, whenever she worked extra hours. On Saturday night, on her way to her mothers factory, she was accompanied by her neighbour Ravi, said JCP (northern range) Karnal Singh. The accused Rama (28),Chandrapal (23),Dabbu (25) and a 14-year-old boy were out on a joyride in Ramas Hyundai Accent. All the three adults in the group work as drivers. None of the accused had any prior brush with the law, apart from Ravi who was involved in a fight in 2007.Police officers say Dabbu and the boy were not involved in the rape as they got off the car before it happened. The police found beer bottles from the car of the accused. Around 10.15 pm, the victim and her companion reached the Aman Vihar sector 20 park where they were accosted by the car occupants, who started passing lewd comments about her. The victim told us that the accused were drunk. When she protested, an argument broke out, said DCP Chhaya Sharma.
Describing the sequence of events, Sharma said the argument lasted for a few minutes before the accused decided to drive ahead.But the girl was angry and she snatched Ravis factory keys and smashed the rear glass of the car. The accused then allegedly decided to teach the victim a lesson. The four occupants then forced the girl inside the vehicle by tugging at her salwar suit and drove off towards the Nangloi railway crossing. Initially, the accused asked the girl to pay up for the damages. As punishment for her deed, the accused even beat her up. We found several cuts and bruises on her cheek, the DCP said.
About an hour later, after two of the accused Dabbu and the minor got off, Rama and Chandrapal took turns to rape her.
12.12.10
DNA
The second assault at police hospital
Rape victims at the Nagpada police hospital endure crude forensic examinations with no medical treatment; are subject to bullying by cops and callous hospital clerks; and many find the horrendous medico-legal procedures a nightmare as bad as the one inflicted on them by the rapist.
One December evening last year, four-year-old Priya, the daughter of a construction worker, was out playing near her house in Kalwa, northern Thane. They had only recently moved to a shanty there, after the municipal authorities found their house in Vikhroli to be ‘illegal’ and razed it.
A neighbourhood drug addict spotted Priya playing alone. He kidnapped her, took her to a secluded spot, raped her, and dumped her in a nearby swamp. Priya had lost consciousness and her inert body was fished out from the swamp. The rapist was caught by the police. Priya was taken to the hospital for a forensic examination and treatment — and there, she underwent an ordeal that was perhaps as heinous as the sexual assault she had suffered.
After the incident, the family moved back to Vikhroli, with the idea of taking the girl away from a place where she had undergone such trauma, to help her recover. But two months later, Priya still hadn’t stopped crying — she was in tremendous pain. She could not urinate, her genitals burned, she could not walk, and she could not even sit down without slivers of pain shooting through her body. While the sexual assault was the primary cause of all this, equally responsible was the lack of medical treatment at the hospital she had been taken to.
Manisha Tulbule, a lawyer and social worker who is handling Priya’s case, says the hospital did not give the girl even the basic medical attention any rape victim would require. “Priya had been taken to the Thane Civil Hospital immediately after the incident. But the hospital only did a forensic examination for rape. Vaginal swabs and blood tests were taken, but neither did they give her medical treatment, nor did they refer her to another hospital. They didn’t follow the standard procedures for rape victims, such as checking for STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) and HIV infections,” she says.
A solution worse than the problem
The hospital that Priya was taken to is not the only one at fault. In fact, treatment of rape victims in most public hospitals is dismal. The worst, according to activists, is the Nagpada Police Hospital, which receives over 1,000 rape cases in a year.
SM Patil is the police surgeon at this hospital, the demigod around whom the hospital bureaucracy revolves. He is a small man with a big moustache and a big pair of glasses. Bigger still is his brightly-lit office, opening on to a courtyard with a separate driveway. Big man that he is, he is naturally a busy man. He is part of a team that is drafting a new manual on how doctors and cops in Maharashtra should deal with victims of sexual assault.
After initial denials, he eventually admitted to this reporter that he was indeed drafting such a manual, along with members from the home department, the department of medical education, and the directorate of health services. But he wouldn’t talk about it.
Why this strange coyness in talking about what, on the surface, seems like a progressive step?
In February 2010, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court against the state of Maharashtra and the Union government. The PIL was based on a study by Dr Indrajit Khandekar, titled ‘Pitiable And Horrendous Quality Of Forensic Medical Examination Of The Sexually Assaulted Victims In India’. Dr Khandekar had scrutinised the manner in which rape victims were dealt with by police personnel and doctors.
In response, the Maharashtra government tried to ‘rectify’ the problem. So in June 2010, the government came up with a directive asking all government hospitals to use the Nagpada police hospital’s pro forma. The trouble is this ‘official’ pro forma is a source of humiliation all over again: it prescribes the two-finger test, takes a broad consent for all tests (no matter that the traumatised victim may not be comfortable with some specific tests), asks for, among other things, the mental state in which the victim reaches the hospital, and the victim’s build.
Of all these, the most execrable is the two-finger test. Researcher Aruna Kashyap published a study in August 2010, showing how the two-finger test is still being conducted in Indian hospitals. She showed how the defence counsel still uses this information in courts (if two-fingers can be inserted into the victim’s vagina) to term the victim a person of ‘loose’ moral character.
Kashyap is also shocked by other elements in the pro forma.
“What is the purpose of recording the victim’s ‘mental state’ and ‘build’?” she asks. “If the victim is small-built and she comes crying, then apparently there is a good chance that she was raped. But what if she has been raped, but is not of small build and is not weeping? Also, the victim should be allowed to decline certain tests that she might be uncomfortable with. One can’t take a broad consent, as is being done now. For instance, not everyone who has been raped just hours before, would be comfortable with the two-finger test.”
In fact, the pro forma is just part of the problem. In November 2008, the research and health advocacy group CEHAT observed for 10 days how the Nagpada hospital handled cases of sexual assault. They were shocked. “The clerk who was supposed to take down the victim’s details was actually talking to her in an accusatory tone. He was asking her, ‘How many times did you go out with the rapist?’, ‘Did you do some wrong thing with him?’, ‘Oh you went with him! Very good’,” says Padma Deosthali, coordinator, CEHAT, who was part of the team of researchers.
November 28, 2010
27.11.10
Mumbai Mirror
Child sexual abuse cases on the rise: Study
A study on child sexual abuse conducted in 13 states by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2007 shows that out of the 12,447 children interviewed, more than 53 per cent had faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. The figures were published in a report titled, Child Abuse, 2007.
According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, from 2,265 cases in 2001, the number has increased to 5,749 in 2008.
Not only that, 50 per cent abusers were persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
Replying to a written question, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath said, “The government proposes to bring in a new law to protect children against sexual offences of various types.” She added, “The draft Bill regards the best interests and well-being of the child as of paramount importance at every stage of the judicial process.”
Mumbai Mirror
Child sexual abuse cases on the rise: Study
A study on child sexual abuse conducted in 13 states by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2007 shows that out of the 12,447 children interviewed, more than 53 per cent had faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. The figures were published in a report titled, Child Abuse, 2007.
According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, from 2,265 cases in 2001, the number has increased to 5,749 in 2008.
Not only that, 50 per cent abusers were persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
Replying to a written question, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath said, “The government proposes to bring in a new law to protect children against sexual offences of various types.” She added, “The draft Bill regards the best interests and well-being of the child as of paramount importance at every stage of the judicial process.”
November 25, 2010
25.11.10
Times of India
NGO Maps Citys Violent Reality Through RTI
Mumbai: Delhi has for long been perceived as Indias rape capital,whereas Mumbai is viewed as one of the safest cities in India for women.But data on crime against women in Mumbai over the last two years paints a rather grim picture of the city,with one rape occurring every two days in Mumbai.
North-central Mumbai has witnessed the highest number of rape cases,with 75 rapes reported in two years.Meanwhile,north-west Mumbai tops the charts when it comes to molestations.Incidentally,the report shows that every area in Mumbai has seen a decrease in the number of rape cases from 2008-09 to 2009-10,except for north-west Mumbai,which has seen an increase.
The above are some of the findings of a report on crime in Mumbai by the Praja Foundation.The report is the result of a series of RTI applications.
Our analysis in this white paper does not directly talk about the city polices preparation for another 26/11-style attack,but of the dayto-day 26/11 situations that the city and its people are facing, said Nitai Mehta,founder trustee,Praja.
The results of the report may come as a surprise for many Mumbaikars.Take for instance the fact that South Mumbai tops the charts for murder across all regions in the city,with 90 murders committed in the area over the last two years.South Mumbai has also witnessed the highest number of housebreaks (1,114) and thefts (3,037) in this period.
Times of India
NGO Maps Citys Violent Reality Through RTI
Mumbai: Delhi has for long been perceived as Indias rape capital,whereas Mumbai is viewed as one of the safest cities in India for women.But data on crime against women in Mumbai over the last two years paints a rather grim picture of the city,with one rape occurring every two days in Mumbai.
North-central Mumbai has witnessed the highest number of rape cases,with 75 rapes reported in two years.Meanwhile,north-west Mumbai tops the charts when it comes to molestations.Incidentally,the report shows that every area in Mumbai has seen a decrease in the number of rape cases from 2008-09 to 2009-10,except for north-west Mumbai,which has seen an increase.
The above are some of the findings of a report on crime in Mumbai by the Praja Foundation.The report is the result of a series of RTI applications.
Our analysis in this white paper does not directly talk about the city polices preparation for another 26/11-style attack,but of the dayto-day 26/11 situations that the city and its people are facing, said Nitai Mehta,founder trustee,Praja.
The results of the report may come as a surprise for many Mumbaikars.Take for instance the fact that South Mumbai tops the charts for murder across all regions in the city,with 90 murders committed in the area over the last two years.South Mumbai has also witnessed the highest number of housebreaks (1,114) and thefts (3,037) in this period.
November 23, 2010
20.11.10
Hindustan Times
Docs at Nair show how to handle child abuse cases
With cases of child abuse coming to fore often, the Mutli Disciplinary Child Protection Centre at the Nair Hospital organised a chart exhibition on Friday. The doctors had put up charts displaying behavioural signs parents need to lookout for to find out if their child has been sexually abused.
Dr Pawan Sable, a member of the centre, said the police should be careful while dealing with such victims. "Right from the time the victim informs her parents till the time the case is argued in the court, the victim has to recount the crime. This adds to her already traumatised state of mind," Dr Sable said.
"If possible the police must video record statement to ensure he/she does not go through the trauma of recounting their experiences," he added.
A young child may find it intimidating to approach the police. So it helps if some police officers visit the victim's residence. “In the court, the accused and the victim need to be present. However, there have been instances when judges have given permission to put a curtain between the two to ensure the victim cannot see the accused. This helps her in giving the version freely," Dr Sable said.
The centre, started in 2006 jointly by Nair Hospital authorities and UNICEF, makes an attempt to ensure that all the needs of victims who have been sexually abused or involved in trafficking for sexual ends are provided with all the necessary measures from medical aid to legal measures.
22.11.10
DNA
Statement by minor in rape case cannot be dismissed: Bombay high court
The Bombay high court has held that a minor rape victim’s statement about the crime may not be clear but her version cannot be dismissed as unreliable.
Justice VR Kingaonkar of Aurangabad bench on November 15 upheld conviction awarded by the Jalgaon additional session court to Uttam Thakare, a resident of Manyakheda taluka. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years.
A complaint was lodged by Gautambai that on June 6, 2005 around 6pm her granddaughter, 7, who was playing near a godown, did not return home. Around 10.30pm, neighbours brought the girl home. Gautambai noticed that the girl’s private parts were swollen and bleeding. She found out that the girl had been taken by Thakare to a field.
An FIR was lodged next morning. Medical examination revealed that she was raped and sodomised. Thakare, who was absconding then, was subsequently arrested.
His lawyer argued that in absence of any direct evidence, the sessions court erred in accepting the prosecution’s version. He submitted that the girl “is rustic, of tender age and is not a reliable witness” and also “tutored” and therefore no implicit reliance could be placed on her version.
Kingaonkar noted said the sessions judge found the girl unable to appropriately describe Thakare’s alleged acts. “She narrated that he had slept over her body. Hence, she bled from her vagina. The victim’s statement may not be clear as far as sexual intercourse is concerned, yet, her version makes it clear that it was the appellant who had taken her to the field and ‘fallen over her body’,” the judge noted.
Hindustan Times
Docs at Nair show how to handle child abuse cases
With cases of child abuse coming to fore often, the Mutli Disciplinary Child Protection Centre at the Nair Hospital organised a chart exhibition on Friday. The doctors had put up charts displaying behavioural signs parents need to lookout for to find out if their child has been sexually abused.
Dr Pawan Sable, a member of the centre, said the police should be careful while dealing with such victims. "Right from the time the victim informs her parents till the time the case is argued in the court, the victim has to recount the crime. This adds to her already traumatised state of mind," Dr Sable said.
"If possible the police must video record statement to ensure he/she does not go through the trauma of recounting their experiences," he added.
A young child may find it intimidating to approach the police. So it helps if some police officers visit the victim's residence. “In the court, the accused and the victim need to be present. However, there have been instances when judges have given permission to put a curtain between the two to ensure the victim cannot see the accused. This helps her in giving the version freely," Dr Sable said.
The centre, started in 2006 jointly by Nair Hospital authorities and UNICEF, makes an attempt to ensure that all the needs of victims who have been sexually abused or involved in trafficking for sexual ends are provided with all the necessary measures from medical aid to legal measures.
22.11.10
DNA
Statement by minor in rape case cannot be dismissed: Bombay high court
The Bombay high court has held that a minor rape victim’s statement about the crime may not be clear but her version cannot be dismissed as unreliable.
Justice VR Kingaonkar of Aurangabad bench on November 15 upheld conviction awarded by the Jalgaon additional session court to Uttam Thakare, a resident of Manyakheda taluka. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years.
A complaint was lodged by Gautambai that on June 6, 2005 around 6pm her granddaughter, 7, who was playing near a godown, did not return home. Around 10.30pm, neighbours brought the girl home. Gautambai noticed that the girl’s private parts were swollen and bleeding. She found out that the girl had been taken by Thakare to a field.
An FIR was lodged next morning. Medical examination revealed that she was raped and sodomised. Thakare, who was absconding then, was subsequently arrested.
His lawyer argued that in absence of any direct evidence, the sessions court erred in accepting the prosecution’s version. He submitted that the girl “is rustic, of tender age and is not a reliable witness” and also “tutored” and therefore no implicit reliance could be placed on her version.
Kingaonkar noted said the sessions judge found the girl unable to appropriately describe Thakare’s alleged acts. “She narrated that he had slept over her body. Hence, she bled from her vagina. The victim’s statement may not be clear as far as sexual intercourse is concerned, yet, her version makes it clear that it was the appellant who had taken her to the field and ‘fallen over her body’,” the judge noted.
November 16, 2010
11.11.10
BBC news
Row over Amazon sales of paedophile advice guide
A self-published guide giving advice to paedophiles that was on sale through online retailer Amazon is stirring up controversy, with some threatening to boycott the website.
The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct has now been removed from sale.
But Amazon had defended the listing, saying it did not promote criminal acts but also avoided censorship.
Amazon allows authors to submit their own books and shares revenue with them.
Before authors are able to sell a work on the site, they are asked to read a set of guidelines, which bans offensive materials.
But Amazon does not specifically state on its website what material it deems offensive, instead saying "probably what you would expect".
Boycott threat
In recent hours the book listing appears to have been removed from the Amazon website. But there has been no response yet to BBC requests for a statement from the retailer.
It had previously adopted a defiant posture, saying in a statement: "Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable.
"Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions."
The author, listed as Philip R Greaves II, argues that paedophiles are misunderstood and purports to offer advice to help them abide by the law.
Individuals on the micro-blogging website Twitter have asked Amazon to remove the book from its site, while some are threatening to boycott the retailer.
One Amazon user posted a comment on the site, saying that "to see a book like this on Amazon's 'shelves', so to speak, is very troubling to me".
The title is being sold for the Kindle electronic reader.
13.11.10
DNA
Activists bemoan lack of laws to deal with child sexual abuse
As SPS Rathore, the molester of a minor who was driven to suicide following the abuse, got bail, welfare foundations held a workshop in the city on Friday to sensitise policemen about child sexual abuse.
The workshop was conducted by the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development in collaboration with the Childline foundation. It saw participation from assistant commissioners of police, senior police inspectors, community police and members of the crime branch.
“With a rampant increase in the cases of child sexual abuse, this workshop is an attempt to sensitise policemen about the psychological, legal and medical aspects related to child sexual abuse, as they are the one who deal with such cases on a daily basis,” said Jojo Verghese, city coordinator, Childline.
A matter of serious concern is the weak judicial system in India. Ranjeet Chouguley, director of the Justice and Care organisation, spoke about the legal aspects of child sexual abuse. He pointed that no specialised legislation for child sexual abuse are yet in place.
Speaking with DNA, he said, “The Juvenile Justice Act is a welfare Act but does not look at the criminal aspects of putting perpetrators behind bars. As of now, for child sexual abuse cases, we need to rely on provisions of legislation meant for adults. This is really unfair. We are hoping to implement some concrete laws once the Child Protection Bill gets passed in the winter session.”
Neeta Athale, faculty at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, talked about the psychological aspects of child sexual abuse. What is worrisome, she said, is that a large number of cases do not get reported. This is because in 75% cases, the person who subjects a child to abuse is a family member, relative or a person who holds a position of trust with the child.
Jaspal Singh Ragi, ACP of Meghavadi, who attended the workshop, said, “Child sexual abuse is a sin to humanity. Cases are on the rise, because the laws are weak and the perpetrators easily go scot-free.”
Talking about the workshop, he said, “This workshop was very useful and clarified a lot of doubts that we had. I would recommend this workshop to be conducted at zonal level with more officers participating.” Such awareness campaigns are a step forward to ensure a healthy and happy childhood.
15.11.10
Times of India
Payouts for rape victims soon
Plan For.150Cr Corpus Cleared By Expenditure Panel,Awaits FinMin Nod
New Delhi: A week after the Union Cabinet gave its nod to a legislation that will protect women from sexual harassment at the workplace,another landmark scheme to provide financial aid to rape victims could soon be a reality.
The government has cleared the decks for providing the victims or their legal heirs with financial aid to ensure restorative justice in the form of legal and medical assistance,shelter,counselling and other support services.
The planmooted by the ministry of women and child development (WCD)has been cleared by the expenditure finance committee and awaits a nod by the finance ministry.It entails the creation of a corpus of Rs 150 crore.
Under the scheme,victims will receive interim financial assistance of Rs 20,000 and restorative support services of up to Rs 50,000.The final assistance can be up to a maximum of Rs 1.30 lakh.
While this relief can be accessed by a woman,minor girl or legal heirs of a victim,the aid can go up to Rs 3 lakh under certain circumstances.In special cases involving minor girls,mentally-challenged or handicapped women,those suffering from HIV/AIDS or STDs,the amount can be higher.Rape is one of the most violent forms of crime against women,which impacts her socially,mentally and psychologically.This scheme will provide restorative justice by not just giving immediate relief but also addressing long-term problems like shelter,medical and legal aid, Krishna Tirath,WCD minister,said.
According to guidelines laid down by the ministry,the interim relief should be paid within three weeks of filing an application with a district board.
Taking a humanitarian view of the circumstances,the ministry has allowed for a time period of 60 days from the date of recording an FIR to file an application.The police station will also be required to forward a copy of the medical certificate and preliminary investigation report within 72 hours.The district board can disburse the interim relief of Rs 20,000 after a preliminary inquiry as far as possible within 15 days and in a maximum of three weeks.On the assessment of the needs of the affected woman,the board will be empowered to arrange support services like medical treatment,psychological counselling and alternative accommodation.The final amount of Rs 1.30 lakh can be directly disbursed by the district board within a period of one month from the date of which the affected person gives her evidence in the criminal trial or within a year from the date of filing an FIR.
The claim by a victim can be rejected by the board if the affected person does not inform the police,has delayed filing a complaint or FIR,turns hostile during the trial,appears collusive or the complaint is not based on verifiable facts.The scheme also envisages setting up of a state and national criminal injuries relief and rehabilitation board.
RELIEF FUND
Under the proposed scheme,rape victims will receive interim financial assistance of Rs 20,000 and restorative support services of up to Rs 50,000 The final assistance can be up to Rs 1.3 lakh.In certain cases,it can go up to Rs 3 lakh This relief can be accessed by a woman,minor girl or legal heirs of a victim The interim relief should be paid within three weeks of filing an application with a district board This scheme will provide restorative justice to rape victims by addressing long-term problems like shelter,medical and legal aid Krishna Tirath
BBC news
Row over Amazon sales of paedophile advice guide
A self-published guide giving advice to paedophiles that was on sale through online retailer Amazon is stirring up controversy, with some threatening to boycott the website.
The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct has now been removed from sale.
But Amazon had defended the listing, saying it did not promote criminal acts but also avoided censorship.
Amazon allows authors to submit their own books and shares revenue with them.
Before authors are able to sell a work on the site, they are asked to read a set of guidelines, which bans offensive materials.
But Amazon does not specifically state on its website what material it deems offensive, instead saying "probably what you would expect".
Boycott threat
In recent hours the book listing appears to have been removed from the Amazon website. But there has been no response yet to BBC requests for a statement from the retailer.
It had previously adopted a defiant posture, saying in a statement: "Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable.
"Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions."
The author, listed as Philip R Greaves II, argues that paedophiles are misunderstood and purports to offer advice to help them abide by the law.
Individuals on the micro-blogging website Twitter have asked Amazon to remove the book from its site, while some are threatening to boycott the retailer.
One Amazon user posted a comment on the site, saying that "to see a book like this on Amazon's 'shelves', so to speak, is very troubling to me".
The title is being sold for the Kindle electronic reader.
13.11.10
DNA
Activists bemoan lack of laws to deal with child sexual abuse
As SPS Rathore, the molester of a minor who was driven to suicide following the abuse, got bail, welfare foundations held a workshop in the city on Friday to sensitise policemen about child sexual abuse.
The workshop was conducted by the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development in collaboration with the Childline foundation. It saw participation from assistant commissioners of police, senior police inspectors, community police and members of the crime branch.
“With a rampant increase in the cases of child sexual abuse, this workshop is an attempt to sensitise policemen about the psychological, legal and medical aspects related to child sexual abuse, as they are the one who deal with such cases on a daily basis,” said Jojo Verghese, city coordinator, Childline.
A matter of serious concern is the weak judicial system in India. Ranjeet Chouguley, director of the Justice and Care organisation, spoke about the legal aspects of child sexual abuse. He pointed that no specialised legislation for child sexual abuse are yet in place.
Speaking with DNA, he said, “The Juvenile Justice Act is a welfare Act but does not look at the criminal aspects of putting perpetrators behind bars. As of now, for child sexual abuse cases, we need to rely on provisions of legislation meant for adults. This is really unfair. We are hoping to implement some concrete laws once the Child Protection Bill gets passed in the winter session.”
Neeta Athale, faculty at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, talked about the psychological aspects of child sexual abuse. What is worrisome, she said, is that a large number of cases do not get reported. This is because in 75% cases, the person who subjects a child to abuse is a family member, relative or a person who holds a position of trust with the child.
Jaspal Singh Ragi, ACP of Meghavadi, who attended the workshop, said, “Child sexual abuse is a sin to humanity. Cases are on the rise, because the laws are weak and the perpetrators easily go scot-free.”
Talking about the workshop, he said, “This workshop was very useful and clarified a lot of doubts that we had. I would recommend this workshop to be conducted at zonal level with more officers participating.” Such awareness campaigns are a step forward to ensure a healthy and happy childhood.
15.11.10
Times of India
Payouts for rape victims soon
Plan For.150Cr Corpus Cleared By Expenditure Panel,Awaits FinMin Nod
New Delhi: A week after the Union Cabinet gave its nod to a legislation that will protect women from sexual harassment at the workplace,another landmark scheme to provide financial aid to rape victims could soon be a reality.
The government has cleared the decks for providing the victims or their legal heirs with financial aid to ensure restorative justice in the form of legal and medical assistance,shelter,counselling and other support services.
The planmooted by the ministry of women and child development (WCD)has been cleared by the expenditure finance committee and awaits a nod by the finance ministry.It entails the creation of a corpus of Rs 150 crore.
Under the scheme,victims will receive interim financial assistance of Rs 20,000 and restorative support services of up to Rs 50,000.The final assistance can be up to a maximum of Rs 1.30 lakh.
While this relief can be accessed by a woman,minor girl or legal heirs of a victim,the aid can go up to Rs 3 lakh under certain circumstances.In special cases involving minor girls,mentally-challenged or handicapped women,those suffering from HIV/AIDS or STDs,the amount can be higher.Rape is one of the most violent forms of crime against women,which impacts her socially,mentally and psychologically.This scheme will provide restorative justice by not just giving immediate relief but also addressing long-term problems like shelter,medical and legal aid, Krishna Tirath,WCD minister,said.
According to guidelines laid down by the ministry,the interim relief should be paid within three weeks of filing an application with a district board.
Taking a humanitarian view of the circumstances,the ministry has allowed for a time period of 60 days from the date of recording an FIR to file an application.The police station will also be required to forward a copy of the medical certificate and preliminary investigation report within 72 hours.The district board can disburse the interim relief of Rs 20,000 after a preliminary inquiry as far as possible within 15 days and in a maximum of three weeks.On the assessment of the needs of the affected woman,the board will be empowered to arrange support services like medical treatment,psychological counselling and alternative accommodation.The final amount of Rs 1.30 lakh can be directly disbursed by the district board within a period of one month from the date of which the affected person gives her evidence in the criminal trial or within a year from the date of filing an FIR.
The claim by a victim can be rejected by the board if the affected person does not inform the police,has delayed filing a complaint or FIR,turns hostile during the trial,appears collusive or the complaint is not based on verifiable facts.The scheme also envisages setting up of a state and national criminal injuries relief and rehabilitation board.
RELIEF FUND
Under the proposed scheme,rape victims will receive interim financial assistance of Rs 20,000 and restorative support services of up to Rs 50,000 The final assistance can be up to Rs 1.3 lakh.In certain cases,it can go up to Rs 3 lakh This relief can be accessed by a woman,minor girl or legal heirs of a victim The interim relief should be paid within three weeks of filing an application with a district board This scheme will provide restorative justice to rape victims by addressing long-term problems like shelter,medical and legal aid Krishna Tirath
October 26, 2010
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.
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.
October 19, 2010
17.10.10
Hindustan Times
UP cops target HT for report on minor’s rape
Instead of arresting the alleged rapist of a nine-year-old girl in her school premises where she bled to death, the Kanpur police unleashed its fury on Hindustan Times and its sister publication, Hindi daily Hindustan on Friday night for their unrelenting campaign for justice for Divya Bhadoria.
Divya was allegedly sodomised by the son of the manager of Bharti Gyansthali School on September 27. School authorities did not even take her to a hospital while she bled. They just dropped her dead body at her home.
The police, apparently keen to shield manager Chandrapal Verma's son Piyush Verma, a postgraduate science student, took no action for the 18 days that Hindustan Times and Hindustan reported intensively on the case and generated a public outrage.
But the sustained campaign by the two dailies and mounting public pressure seemed to have compelled the police to finally arrest Piyush Verma for sodomy and murder and send his father to jail for criminal negligence.
But the matter did not end there. Hours after arresting Piyush on Friday, the police descended on the offices of HT and Hindustan.
A police jeep rolled into the premises of the two dailies at 11 pm, followed by policemen from a nearby police station. They detained editorial and non-editorial staff, intimidating them and accusing them of using stolen vehicles.
The posse of 14 policemen, who stayed on till 2.30 am, sealed the premises, preventing distribution of the newspapers.
17.10.10
Mumbai Mirror
HC sets up watchdog for children’s homes
Dr Asha Bajpai to head panel to ensure there is no repeat of what happened at the Kavdas orphanage recently
The court asked Dr Bajpai to choose five members to assist her and, on the suggestion of the state, added that Women and Child Development secretary Vandna Krishna will help her in the selection.
The committee will examine ground realities and working of these homes. It will also form sub-committees to regularly inspect the homes, so that a repeat of what happened at Kavdas does not occur.
In an important development that emerged as an off shoot in the case after the two sexually abused girls were shifted to KEM, the court endorsed a suggestion from Dr Bajpai that paediatric wards of general hospitals should reserve beds for mentally deficient children, and that such children should not be accommodated in the general psychiatric ward.
At last Thursday’s hearing, Dr Bajpai pointed out that it was important to have separate beds for children who suffered trauma and that they should not be kept with adults in the psychiatric ward as it could result in more trauma.
The court considered the suggestion and passed directions on Saturday. The state also submitted that other facilities like Child Protection Units, district welfare officers and other issues will be dealt with within three months.
The division bench of Justice Mohit Shah and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked the Child Welfare Committee and the DWCD about the condition of the other 28 homes. “This is one case that has come to light, but if there are 29 homes across the state, what is the state in the other homes, have you inspected them?” asked the judges.
Interestingly, when questioned about the recommendation given to the Kavdas orphanage, advocate Nitin Pradhan who represents CWC said it was given on an informal letter. “It is important that three committee members visit a home before recommendation is given, but in this case only one member went there and the letter was given innocently. It was not even a proper formal letter,” he said.
Shocked by the response, the court asked how the home even came into being. “There were shops and galas where the children were kept - how can that be done?” asked Justice Chandrachud.
Dr Bajpai further said that the blame game between the nodal agencies should stop, their roles should be clearly defined, and in cases such as Kavdas, they should come together to address the issue.
The CWC-DWCD tiff is evident, as on minor issues like ID cards, the agencies blame each other.
This was clear when it was submitted by the KEM counsel, that if CWC members want to visit girls kept there, they should carry their cards. But CWC members said that the state had not given them ID cards. The state in response said “members have not given their photographs”.
The court has now instructed CWC to find suitable homes for the girls with the help of the amicus curiae and DWCD.
The court also called for the criminal investigation to be speeded up and, more importantly, a women officer be appointed as IO and, if possible, a lady judge should hear the case.
The next hearing is on October 26.
17.10.10
Sunday Times
No virgin territory!
Youngsters these days are under greater pressure to be sexually active very early, says psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria
Teenage sex has become a trend of the new generation as girls and boys have the desire to explore their sexuality at a younger age now-a-days. It could be out of curiosity or because of exposure of western television shows. The general thought pattern of a teen is: I'm a teenager, what's the harm in exploring. Along with there new-found independence, premarital sex is no longer seen as a taboo.
This makes sex education in schools compulsory. Teenagers are aware of masturbation and tools of sexual pleasure before entering college. Because they have access to pornography, sex is treated as a means for gratification rather than an expression of love. That often makes them comfortable with having one-night stands and blind sex dates.
Teenage years are marked with insecurities of the future and teens are critical about themselves and face issues of low self-esteem and low confidence and they are more likely to feel the urge to move out of their homes. It's only as a person matures that he/she looks at bonding, and the need for physical intimacy increases as there is pressured to behave in a 'manly/ womanly' manner.
As a case in point, let's look at a 17-year-old boy who was depressed and claimed that he already had two sexual encounters with girls of his age. His depression resulted from the fact that his present girlfriend had to undergo an abortion. This weakened their relationship and they couldn't even relate to each other any more.
Cases like this highlight the need to address the issue in a mature manner. Teenagers should be taught to act in a more responsible way. And, parents need to be friends with their children at this age rather than taking an authoritative or passive approach. One needs to discuss the pros and cons of irresponsible sexual behaviour.
Parents should teach their children to be assertive and say 'no' to peers, especially when it involves sex, drugs and alcohol. If youngsters are taught that sex should not be viewed as a means of revenge or to prove a point to one's peers, it will help them develop a healthy attitude towards the opposite sex.
Youngsters should be taught that their behaviour should be out of their own will rather than to compete for attention or to be accepted by a peer group.
Parents should assist their teenage children by helping them find appropriate social groups.
Getting teenagers involved in activities that they are passionate about, like reading, music, sports, etc, their energy can be channelise in a more productive manner.
Hindustan Times
UP cops target HT for report on minor’s rape
Instead of arresting the alleged rapist of a nine-year-old girl in her school premises where she bled to death, the Kanpur police unleashed its fury on Hindustan Times and its sister publication, Hindi daily Hindustan on Friday night for their unrelenting campaign for justice for Divya Bhadoria.
Divya was allegedly sodomised by the son of the manager of Bharti Gyansthali School on September 27. School authorities did not even take her to a hospital while she bled. They just dropped her dead body at her home.
The police, apparently keen to shield manager Chandrapal Verma's son Piyush Verma, a postgraduate science student, took no action for the 18 days that Hindustan Times and Hindustan reported intensively on the case and generated a public outrage.
But the sustained campaign by the two dailies and mounting public pressure seemed to have compelled the police to finally arrest Piyush Verma for sodomy and murder and send his father to jail for criminal negligence.
But the matter did not end there. Hours after arresting Piyush on Friday, the police descended on the offices of HT and Hindustan.
A police jeep rolled into the premises of the two dailies at 11 pm, followed by policemen from a nearby police station. They detained editorial and non-editorial staff, intimidating them and accusing them of using stolen vehicles.
The posse of 14 policemen, who stayed on till 2.30 am, sealed the premises, preventing distribution of the newspapers.
17.10.10
Mumbai Mirror
HC sets up watchdog for children’s homes
Dr Asha Bajpai to head panel to ensure there is no repeat of what happened at the Kavdas orphanage recently
The court asked Dr Bajpai to choose five members to assist her and, on the suggestion of the state, added that Women and Child Development secretary Vandna Krishna will help her in the selection.
The committee will examine ground realities and working of these homes. It will also form sub-committees to regularly inspect the homes, so that a repeat of what happened at Kavdas does not occur.
In an important development that emerged as an off shoot in the case after the two sexually abused girls were shifted to KEM, the court endorsed a suggestion from Dr Bajpai that paediatric wards of general hospitals should reserve beds for mentally deficient children, and that such children should not be accommodated in the general psychiatric ward.
At last Thursday’s hearing, Dr Bajpai pointed out that it was important to have separate beds for children who suffered trauma and that they should not be kept with adults in the psychiatric ward as it could result in more trauma.
The court considered the suggestion and passed directions on Saturday. The state also submitted that other facilities like Child Protection Units, district welfare officers and other issues will be dealt with within three months.
The division bench of Justice Mohit Shah and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked the Child Welfare Committee and the DWCD about the condition of the other 28 homes. “This is one case that has come to light, but if there are 29 homes across the state, what is the state in the other homes, have you inspected them?” asked the judges.
Interestingly, when questioned about the recommendation given to the Kavdas orphanage, advocate Nitin Pradhan who represents CWC said it was given on an informal letter. “It is important that three committee members visit a home before recommendation is given, but in this case only one member went there and the letter was given innocently. It was not even a proper formal letter,” he said.
Shocked by the response, the court asked how the home even came into being. “There were shops and galas where the children were kept - how can that be done?” asked Justice Chandrachud.
Dr Bajpai further said that the blame game between the nodal agencies should stop, their roles should be clearly defined, and in cases such as Kavdas, they should come together to address the issue.
The CWC-DWCD tiff is evident, as on minor issues like ID cards, the agencies blame each other.
This was clear when it was submitted by the KEM counsel, that if CWC members want to visit girls kept there, they should carry their cards. But CWC members said that the state had not given them ID cards. The state in response said “members have not given their photographs”.
The court has now instructed CWC to find suitable homes for the girls with the help of the amicus curiae and DWCD.
The court also called for the criminal investigation to be speeded up and, more importantly, a women officer be appointed as IO and, if possible, a lady judge should hear the case.
The next hearing is on October 26.
17.10.10
Sunday Times
No virgin territory!
Youngsters these days are under greater pressure to be sexually active very early, says psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria
Teenage sex has become a trend of the new generation as girls and boys have the desire to explore their sexuality at a younger age now-a-days. It could be out of curiosity or because of exposure of western television shows. The general thought pattern of a teen is: I'm a teenager, what's the harm in exploring. Along with there new-found independence, premarital sex is no longer seen as a taboo.
This makes sex education in schools compulsory. Teenagers are aware of masturbation and tools of sexual pleasure before entering college. Because they have access to pornography, sex is treated as a means for gratification rather than an expression of love. That often makes them comfortable with having one-night stands and blind sex dates.
Teenage years are marked with insecurities of the future and teens are critical about themselves and face issues of low self-esteem and low confidence and they are more likely to feel the urge to move out of their homes. It's only as a person matures that he/she looks at bonding, and the need for physical intimacy increases as there is pressured to behave in a 'manly/ womanly' manner.
As a case in point, let's look at a 17-year-old boy who was depressed and claimed that he already had two sexual encounters with girls of his age. His depression resulted from the fact that his present girlfriend had to undergo an abortion. This weakened their relationship and they couldn't even relate to each other any more.
Cases like this highlight the need to address the issue in a mature manner. Teenagers should be taught to act in a more responsible way. And, parents need to be friends with their children at this age rather than taking an authoritative or passive approach. One needs to discuss the pros and cons of irresponsible sexual behaviour.
Parents should teach their children to be assertive and say 'no' to peers, especially when it involves sex, drugs and alcohol. If youngsters are taught that sex should not be viewed as a means of revenge or to prove a point to one's peers, it will help them develop a healthy attitude towards the opposite sex.
Youngsters should be taught that their behaviour should be out of their own will rather than to compete for attention or to be accepted by a peer group.
Parents should assist their teenage children by helping them find appropriate social groups.
Getting teenagers involved in activities that they are passionate about, like reading, music, sports, etc, their energy can be channelise in a more productive manner.
October 11, 2010
10.10.10
Hindustan Times
Early trauma influences adult behaviour, say psychiatrists
Children separated from their mothers or abandoned soon after birth grow up into anxious or depressed adults, said city psychotherapists, confirming recent findings of a study on animal models published in the Journal of Neuroscience. A study on rats carried out by the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research in Colaba and the University of Toronto suggests that negative experiences in early life changed their brain circuits in a way that increased their vulnerability to stress during adulthood.
“In any individual, the chance of developing psychiatric disorders is a combination of genetic history and life experience,” said Vidita Vaidya, biologist at TIFR. “The individual could either be vulnerable or resilient. Clinical information from children with a history of trauma and neglect indicates that negative experience can contribute to the risk for psychiatric disorders.”
The TIFR study suggests in particular that major changes in the way the serotonin2A receptors function in the brain based on the quality of life experience may be important in determining how experiences changes whether an individual is vulnerable or protected from psychiatric disorders.
“The quality of care one receives in early life changes the extent and manner in which this receptor functions and may be important to the effects of early life in shaping the extent of anxiety in adulthood,” she said.
“Stressful situations in early childhood influence both brain structure and growth. Parents thus need to secure their kids,” said Dayal Mirchandani, a psychiatrist who treats such cases.
The death of a parent early in life or the child getting hospitalised without the parent could also be reasons for stress and anxiety in adulthood. These children could grow into adults with low self-esteem, relationship problems or even confusion about careers.
“Experiences get encoded in the brain before the age of three. Therefore there could be trauma even before language develops,” said Dr Rani Raote, psychotherapist, who has worked with adult patients with early separation. “We assume that memory is what we can write and repeat. But there is implicit memory from images, sounds and sensation that can manifest into various forms in adulthood.”
According to psychiatrists and psychotherapists, stress and trauma in the first four years of brain formation affects the child’s intelligence and emotional stability. During these early years, the child needs active nurturing that makes them more resilient to deal with difficulties in adult life.
However, damage from negative early life experiences can also be repaired or lessened with a responsible support system. The TIFR study showed that some of this could be returned to normal by administering a drug that blocks the serotonin2A receptor.
“Apart from therapy, symptoms can also be managed with the help of loving partners, active nurturing by caregivers over time, sensitive teachers as well as meditation,” said Mirchandani.
Hindustan Times
Early trauma influences adult behaviour, say psychiatrists
Children separated from their mothers or abandoned soon after birth grow up into anxious or depressed adults, said city psychotherapists, confirming recent findings of a study on animal models published in the Journal of Neuroscience. A study on rats carried out by the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research in Colaba and the University of Toronto suggests that negative experiences in early life changed their brain circuits in a way that increased their vulnerability to stress during adulthood.
“In any individual, the chance of developing psychiatric disorders is a combination of genetic history and life experience,” said Vidita Vaidya, biologist at TIFR. “The individual could either be vulnerable or resilient. Clinical information from children with a history of trauma and neglect indicates that negative experience can contribute to the risk for psychiatric disorders.”
The TIFR study suggests in particular that major changes in the way the serotonin2A receptors function in the brain based on the quality of life experience may be important in determining how experiences changes whether an individual is vulnerable or protected from psychiatric disorders.
“The quality of care one receives in early life changes the extent and manner in which this receptor functions and may be important to the effects of early life in shaping the extent of anxiety in adulthood,” she said.
“Stressful situations in early childhood influence both brain structure and growth. Parents thus need to secure their kids,” said Dayal Mirchandani, a psychiatrist who treats such cases.
The death of a parent early in life or the child getting hospitalised without the parent could also be reasons for stress and anxiety in adulthood. These children could grow into adults with low self-esteem, relationship problems or even confusion about careers.
“Experiences get encoded in the brain before the age of three. Therefore there could be trauma even before language develops,” said Dr Rani Raote, psychotherapist, who has worked with adult patients with early separation. “We assume that memory is what we can write and repeat. But there is implicit memory from images, sounds and sensation that can manifest into various forms in adulthood.”
According to psychiatrists and psychotherapists, stress and trauma in the first four years of brain formation affects the child’s intelligence and emotional stability. During these early years, the child needs active nurturing that makes them more resilient to deal with difficulties in adult life.
However, damage from negative early life experiences can also be repaired or lessened with a responsible support system. The TIFR study showed that some of this could be returned to normal by administering a drug that blocks the serotonin2A receptor.
“Apart from therapy, symptoms can also be managed with the help of loving partners, active nurturing by caregivers over time, sensitive teachers as well as meditation,” said Mirchandani.
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