The Acquittal in Mumbai of Paedophilia Case Raises a Number of Questions.

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The acquittal in Mumbai of paedophilia " case raises a number of

questions.

Dealing with Child Sexual Abuse: The acquittal in Mumbai of two

Englishmen accused of child sexual abuse raises a number of socio-

legal questions.

August 9, 2008 EPW. The Freddy Peats case in Goa in 1991 first

brought the term " paedophilia " into public discourse in this country.

Since then, there has been acknowledgement, reluctantly though, that

child sexual abuse (CSA) exists in our society whether within or

outside the confines of the family, and steps have been taken to

punish the offenders.

But now the Mumbai High Court has acquitted two Englishmen accused of

sexually abusing boys in the shelter that they ran in the city. Their

acquittal raises a number of

questions about the legal and social complexities involved in dealing

with child sexual abuse in general and paedophilia cases involving

foreigners, in particular.

In 2006 the two men (Duncan Grant set up the shelter, Anchorage, in

1995 and Alan Waters was a frequent visitor) were sentenced to six

years rigorous imprisonment by an additional sessions judge on

charges of sexual abuse based on the evidence of five boys.

The high court while acquitting them noted that there were

discrepancies between the statements made by two complainants before

the police and in the court, that it was

" unnatural " that the victims did not complain for several years, that

the investigation had been done by the amicus curiae rather than by

the police and that the prosecution had not been able to prove the

guilt of the accused beyond a shadow of doubt.

These were street children who had nowhere to go to and the two men

were the only caregivers they knew. The boys needed to muster up

courage and confidence to complain against them. It is well known

that walking out of an abusive environment is not an

option for victims when the abusers are in a position of authority

and provide care.

The boys in this case approached a journalist who lived in the

neighbourhood of the shelter and was a familiar figure. The

journalist later put them in touch with social activists.

After telling their story to the police first in 2001, the boys

repeated their testimony in court after a gap of some years, which

may have led to differences in the two testimonies.

Standing up in court against their " benefactors " and facing

relentless cross-examination would have been a situation fraught with

fear and trauma. Even in the case of Freddy Peats, it was journalist

Sheela Barse who filed a high court writ against incompetent

police investigation, leading to the Central Bureau of Investigation

taking over the case.

Foolproof police investigations that make a solid case for the

prosecution have never been a strong point in instances of

paedophilia involving foreigners. Wilhelm Marty and his wife Loshiar

Lily Marty were caught by the Mumbai police in December

2000 while they were in the act of recording pornographic acts

involving two small girls. In the presence of the nongovernmental

organisation volunteers accompanying the police,

Wilhelm Marty kept taunting the police about how easy it was to

buy " corrupt Indians " .

Whether it is in tourist destinations or in towns with a large

population of homeless children and impoverished families, foreign

paedophiles find that the lure of gifts, good food and shelter is

irresistible.

Society's indifference to the plight of these children and the lack

of adequate provisions in the law to deal with this form of abuse

only add to the problem. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) does not

recognise CSA and therefore offences under this category are usually

charged under section 376 (rape), section 354 (assault or use of

criminal force to outrage the modesty of a woman), section 373

(buying a minor for purpose of prostitution) and section 377

(unnatural offences), the last being the most used.

The Juvenile Justice Act 2000 too does not recognise this offence.

The Offences Against Children Bill, 2005 is still with the union law

ministry awaiting its approval for consideration of the union

cabinet. Goa is the only state in the country to have a law

(the Goa Children's Act 2003) addressing the issues of CSA in general

as well as tourism-related paedophilia. It makes CSA a non-bailable

offence with severe fines and jail terms, prescribes the setting up

of a children's court to try all offences against children and makes

different sections of society (hotel keepers, cyber café owners,

photographers among others) responsible for the protection of the

child against abuse.

There is need for a central legislation that will look at this form

of abuse from the perspective of the child victim, but, more

mportantly, systems need to be put in place whereby awareness about

CSA is created, the impoverished victims feel confident about finding

help and understanding, and state and society at large feel

accountable for the safety of child citizens. We owe this to our

children

August 9, 2008 Economic & Political Weekly (EPW)

http://www.epw.org.in/epw//uploads/articles/12520.pdf