Anti-child abuse laws under review
A concept paper on proposed amendments covering child abuse will be reviewed this week by officers of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) and the Ministry of Justice. Once the paper is approved, it will be forwarded to the legal draftsman. A record number of cases of sexual abuse and rape of children has been reported over the past two weeks.
“The law should provide for a life sentence of rigorous imprisonment for child abusers,” Child Development and Women’s Affairs Minister Tissa Karaliyadda told the Sunday Times.
Minister Karaliyadda and the NCPA have called for tough action against child abuse.
Meanwhile, investigations are under way into the serial rape of a 13-year-old in Hakmana. Up to Friday, a total of 20 persons had been remanded in connection with the crime. Among the suspects are a Tangalle Urban Councillor and UPFA mem- ber, a millionaire businessman, and the proprietors and managers of tourist hotels in the Tangalle area.
On June 4, the 13-year-old schoolgirl had left her home to head out to Tangalle in search of employment. It is understood that the girl had problems at home. The police said the girl was repeatedly raped during a six-day ordeal that took place in four different hotels. The girl managed to escape and join her parents, made a complaint to the Hakmana Police. Investigations are being conducted by the Tangalle Police Child and Women Bureau.
In a separate incident, the Akuressa Pradeshiya Sabha chairman was arrested for alleged abuse of a 14-year-old at a guesthouse belonging to him. The suspect, Saruwa Liyanage Sunil, has been remanded by the Matara Magistrate till July 16.
On June 30, a six-year-old Grade 1 schoolgirl from Kirulapone was raped and drowned in a canal. According to a Police source, the girl was in the company of a 16-year-old male relative on the evening of the incident. The youth was said to have been under the influence of liquor. The girl and her mother had visited the relative’s home after attending a church function in Siddhartha Road. Several persons have been arrested in connection with the crime.
On July 2, a 55-year-old van driver was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a four-and-a-half-year-old girl who trave’lled in his van to attend a pre- school in Wennappuwa.
Police Media spokesman SP Ajith Rohana told the Sunday Times that child abuse is escalating. In the last six months, at least 700 cases of child molestation have been reported. Of last year’s 1,775 rape victims, 1,169 were children.
Child Protection Authority chairperson Anoma Dissanayake told the Sunday Times that sensationalized media accounts of rape incidents only encouraged more such crime. She said the most vulnerable were children of low-income families, where the father was a labourer or a farmer.