A child is raped every 2nd day in TN

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A child is raped every 2nd day in TN

CHENNAI: Every alternate day, a new child is raped in Tamil Nadu. That is

according to the yet-to-be released 2008 statistics of the State Crime Records

Bureau. If those cases that go unreported are to be counted, it could well be a

child rape a day.

Despite policing, programmes and prosecutions, the crime most foul is going up

considerably in numbers. In 2008, 187 cases of child rape were registered, up

from 141 in 2007 and 125 in 2006. The police, which had 47 such cases in the

beginning of 2003 and 11 at the end of that year, had to grapple with 267 child

rapes in 2008, of which 122 were pending with them at the end of the year.

The police consider a case ‘cleared’ at their end with the withdrawal of the

case or filing of the charge-sheet. Meanwhile, the cases have been piling up in

various courts in the state. The number of child-rape cases pending trial, which

was 48 in 2003, has gone up steadily from 214 in 2006 to 223 in 2007 to 265 in

2008.

Today, there could be more than 300 such cases pending in different courts in

the state.

The mounting child rape cases have social workers, police and legal circles

concerned, but they say it could also be a reflection of more people coming

forward to report the cases. “Better reporting is often because of awareness

coupled with anger,” says Andal Damodaran, honorary general secretary of the

Indian Council for Child Welfare in Tamil Nadu. “Then there are cases when the

victim is badly bleeding and needs hospitalisation, which results in a

medico-legal case.”

Despite the National Commission for Women’s 15-year-old recommendation for a

timeframe for trying rape cases, child rape cases drag on for several years.

“Undergoing repeated questioning is a traumatic experience for the child who is

forced to relive the horror. There are times when I’ve wondered if I should’ve

taken a case to court,” said Damodaran.

And what happens if the parents persevere and take the case to its logical end?

“Rape convictions are at best 20% to 30% in our country. Even this has been

achieved only because some judges of the Supreme Court have exhorted judges of

lower courts to relax the normally stringent rules of evidence,” notes former

CBI director R K Raghavan.

The accused often walk free after witnesses turn hostile. “Parents of a

five-year-old rape victim may hesitantly file a case, but they would not want to

continue with the case when the girl turns 12,” says Geetha Ramaseshan, senior

advocate with the Madras high court.

Noting that the police’s role in such cases can only be reactive and not

proactive, Raghavan calls for “building sensitivity among law enforcement

agencies and the community at large through focused training programmes.”

Ramaseshan says setting up special children’s court as done by Goa would help

speedy disposal of cases. “It could be on the lines of Mahila Adalat. You need

not designate it as a special court, for which you may need a special

legislation. Having a court to deal with crime against children can help remove

the backlog,” she suggests.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Chennai/A-child-is-raped-every-2nd-day\

-in-TN/articleshow/4760470.cms

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Dr.S.Raman