3 kids raped in city daily: Experts blame mindset, porn
Also, these numbers may just be a fraction of the overall numbers as reporting rapes is still a taboo. That is again an area where work is needed to educate people to come and report such crimes.
BHARATI ALI, co-founder and co-director of HAQ Centre for Child Rights
NEWDELHI: Child safety remains a pressing concern with nearly three children getting raped every day in the national capital.
Stakeholders say factors aiding such crimes — from poor conviction rates to lack of awareness and community support – continue to thrive as ever.
Wednesday’s incident where an 18-month-old was abducted and sexually assaulted by her 33-year-old neighbour in outer Delhi’s Aman Vihar serves as a gruesome reminder of the extent of the problem.
According to latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data available, 927 children were raped in the national capital in 2015, which boils down to 2.5 rapes per day.
Hindustan Times spoke to a cross section of policemen, child rights activists and juvenile justice lawyers who identified some of the causes that leave children vulnerable to such crimes.
Juvenile Justice lawyer Anant Kumar Asthana, who has dealt with many such cases in the past, said that what separates Delhi from less urbanised or rural areas is a huge migrant population with no community participation, which takes away the secondary safety net that a child has in villages or even smaller towns.
“It is not just about nuclear families. Many victims are from families where both parents go out to leaving them under the care and protection of neighbours, who usually are not as vigilant as one’s own parents would be. This gives an opportunity to those on the prowl to assault chil- dren,” said Asthana.
On the high number of instances year after year, Bharati Ali from HAQ Centre for Child Rights said the root cause lies in the mindset of the people and the system needs to put in more effort in educating them.
“Also, these numbers may just be a fraction of the overall numbers as reporting rapes is still a taboo. That is again an area where work is needed to educate people to come and report cases even more so that they themselves desist,” she said.
On the recent trends, both said that consumption of pornography by offenders was a factor.
Citing the example of an 18-year-old offender, Asthana explained how the person regretted his actions but said pornography had left him with an urge he was unable to control.
Poor deterrence was also highlighted as a factor by experts. Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Jaihind said she has been long requesting the Centre to constitute the high- level committee, which meets twice a month to work on issues of women safety but those were unheard.
The commission in the past had also blamed the police for shoddy investigation and the numbers anyway show the low conviction rate.
Last year, the Delhi high court had also emphasised the need for more special courts and special prosecutors for such cases as the lack was leading to delayed trials.
Among other things, Asthana advocated that self-defence training and community participation in ensuring proper care were also important to keep a check on such crimes.