Cases related to child abuse are alarmingly on the rise across the State, yet regrettably, the district officers seem to be in no mood to take the issue seriously inspite of several missives being written to them, urging for action. Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (USCPCR) received 17 cases of child abuse from various districts from across the state over the past one and half year, said USCPCR chairman, Ajay Setia on Friday.
In two such cases reported from a school in Pithoragarh and another from Pauri recently, the commission directed the district officers to conduct thorough inquiries and resultantly, the accused teachers were put behind the bars, he added.He further said that in one of the child abuse cases involving a private residential school at Kitchha in Udham Singh Nagar as reported in April this year, some students were allegedly sexually exploited by the school manager, he said.
However, the district magistrate had not acted as swiftly as expected, despite the commission having written several letters imploring the DM to conduct a thorough probe at the level of sub- divisional magistrate into the alleged molestation, he added.The commission had received this complaint anonymously on April 29, 2014 and a letter was sent to Udham Singh Nagar DM on May 5 with the direction to submit an inquiry report within 15 days. Commission did not receive any response from the DM within the time thus fixed.
In regards to this case, the commission served another letter on June 2 and the next one on July 1 to the DM but to no avail. On July 23, the commission was forced to write another one again addressed to the DM, threatening action against him under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 on his failure to appear in the court of commission on July 30.
This had its effect as the DM finally responded and sent his representative (Additional DM) to appear in the court of commission on July 30 on his behalf.The DM’s report confirmed that the child abuse allegation involving the residential school had substances. The inquiry report contained one of the victims disclosing that he had been abused by the manager on the institution’s annual day function.
Another student revealed that he was sexually exploited by the school manager in the hostel, forcing him to leave the hostel and continue study from his home.Taking cognisance of this report, Udham Singh Nagar police officers were directed to probe the case and submit report soon. Had DM acted on this case swiftly, the accused might have been put behind the bars promptly, Setia added.
He further said that for failing to act on child abuse cases, two district magistrates (one in Karnataka and another in Uttar Pradesh) were suspended under POCSO Act. He would soon write to the district education officers to implement Right to Education Act in all private and government schools in their respective districts. They will also be directed to ensure that CCTV cameras are installed in all residential schools located across the State.
Commission acts on several anonymous and named complaints as well as media reports related to child abuse cases and the district officers concerned are directed to act on such cases by ordering thorough inquiries, he added.