“We require a special law for the simple reason that you will not find the ingredients of a regular criminal cases in child abuse cases,” said a senior advocate. Referring to a convention on child abuse organised jointly by the Indian Council for Child Welfare and a private medical college here, a senior jurist said recommendations were submitted to the government in the form of a Bill. “Yet no action has been taken by the government,” he said.
One of the key recommendations in the report was to make it mandatory for doctors to report child abuse. “As most of such abuses occur within the closed family structure, the doctor treating the victim-child is the first outsider to come across the offence,” he said.
“The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) requires you to inform police about the cognisable offence,” he noted, adding, “a doctor who fails to bring this to the knowledge of police should be held responsible.”
In this regard, he pointed out that in Malaysia doctors who fail to report such cases will face charges of screening the evidence. “Doctor’s role is crucial because the moment a child comes for treatment, he knows it has been subjected to abuse.”
With a view to ensuring smooth prosecution, the Madras High Court has laid down certain guidelines on how a child witness should be screened from the offender and strangers during examination. It shall be accompanied by a known adult and its face should not be seen by the offender, the court said, adding that the child should be asked to tender evidence only once and should not be forced to repeat the exercise.
Lawyer and rights activist Sudha Ramalingam, however, feels that children would continue to be silent sufferers unless adult members of the family are sensitised about the need to bring such incidents to the notice of authorities. “Plethora of new laws is not going to help the needy. We do not need any new law. People should learn to take advantage of provisions in existing laws such as IPC and JJ Act,” she said.
A survivor
speaks
Imust have been seven or eight years old then. For three years, my cousins did unspeakable things to me. They warned me against telling anyone. And then my best friend’s brother joined them. I thought somehow it was all my fault. I used to be angry with my mother for inviting them to the dining table. I handled it by going completely quiet.
I suppressed the trauma completely even when I became an adult. I was never comfortable with men beyond a certain point. Food was a great comfort. I was 75 kg. It took years of anger and confrontation, and many sessions of counselling. I now take care of my body.I am not ashamed of wearing jeans and T-shirt anymore. It is not about men, but about being able to say no, and saying it loudly. I am better now, but there can be no complete healing. So I write poetry about it, paint about it.
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