In the wake of five girls being molested by a teacher at a school in Jehangirpuri, NGO HAQ: Centre for Child Rights on Tuesday wrote to the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) to take cognisance of the incident. It asked the DCPCR to ensure that schools follow a proper recruitment process and have a child protection policy in place.
Bharti Ali, the co-director of the NGO, wrote to Mamta Sahai, a member of the DCPCR, urging her to ensure that schools do not shirk their responsibility and act against the guilty.
“What worries us is that despite guidelines framed by the DCPCR on sexual abuse in schools and institutions, and the Delhi High Court requiring notification of the guidelines, the Delhi Government has done nothing about it and we wonder if the Lieutenant-Governor is even aware of the need for such a notification,” Ms. Ali said.
Ms. Ali, who has been pursuing the case of sexual exploitation of children in Arya Anathalaya, also expressed concern that an FIR was registered in Tuesday’s incident only when people took to the streets.
Urging the DCPCR to take up the issue of notification of Sexual Abuse Guidelines with the Delhi Government, Ms. Ali said there is need to ensure that the accused are booked under appropriate sections of law and victims are counselled and compensated.
“As a statutory body responsible for monitoring implementation of both the RTE Act and the POCSO Act, we request the DCPCR to take immediate cognisance of this incident,” said Ms. Ali.
“It should ensure that schools do not shirk responsibilities, they have a child protection policy in place, the School Management Committee is pro-actively involved in spreading awareness on child sexual abuse and they take action against culprits when such incidents occur and schools follow a proper recruitment process while appointing teachers and strengthen security,” she added.
