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‘Victims of child abuse denied justice’

MALAPPURAM: Justice should not be denied to victims of child abuse owing to slipshod First Information Reports (FIRs) filed by police officers. This was the clear message at a training programme on child abuse and juvenile justice held for police officers here on Tuesday.

Every police officer and social worker who attended the day-long programme organised by the district unit of Childline had one or more child abuse tales to recount. Director of Childline Dr. C.P. Aboobacker, during his presidential remarks, underscored that many victims of child abuse were denied justice because of slipshod or imperfect FIRs filed by the police.

“In most cases, the aggressors will wield some influence against poor children. Unless the police make perfect FIRs plugging loopholes for the accused to escape, justice may not be delivered to the victims,” said Dr. Aboobacker.

P. Narayanan Kutty Menon, former District and Sessions Judge, spoke on Juvenile Justice Act. K.S. Sudarsan, Deputy Superintendent of Police, inaugurated the training programme.

District Probation Officer Sheeba Mumthaz sounded a warning to society about the need to arrest the increasing incidence of child abuse in the district. Several social workers and experts who attended the programme testified that child abuse was wide and prevalent in the district, largely owing to its social backwardness. An attempt by Childline a few years ago to focus government attention on child abuse cases in the district had misfired as the then District Probation Officer reportedly gave a false report about the state of affairs.

Childline coordinator P.P. Yousaf Ali welcomed the gathering. C.P. Mohammed Kutty, co-director of Childline Nodal Organisation; and P.S. Aminu, District Social Welfare Officer, addressed the gathering. Subairul Havan P.K., city coordinator of Childline, proposed a vote of thanks.

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