Family to appeal sentence against Chandrasekhar Vallabhaneni in a higher court.
An Indian software professional and his wife were held guilty here on Tuesday of “serious child abuse” and awarded imprisonment for 18 months and 15 months.
Chandrasekhar Vallabhaneni and his wife Anupama, who were arrested last month, were convicted of gross or repeated maltreatment of their child/children by threats, violence or other wrongs. They have a couple of days to appeal.
“Oslo District Court has found an Indian couple guilty on several counts of child abuse. In the view of the court, the couple deliberately burned their son’s leg with a hot spoon or similar object, with the result that the child had burn marks measuring approximately 3 x 5 centimetres,” an official statement said.
The court said it was proven that on one occasion, the parents had even threatened to brand their son’s tongue with a hot spoon.
Keywords: Norway child abuse case, Indian couple arrest, Chandrasekhar Vallabhaneni, Overseas Affairs Ministry, Vayalar Ravi, Norway couple case
Many readers here have assumed that the parents were unaware of the local laws.
This is not correct. My earlier translation of an article which appeared in the
Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten and which appears as one of the comments
here reads:
“...In the Court, the accused have acknowledged that they were aware of the fact
that it is illegal to threaten or carry out acts of violence against children in
Norway...”
The full article in Norwegian is available at: bit.ly/VsX0MN
Mr. Chandran Gorapalli
You state and want that “...the kid ... be returned to their kin and not to foster
homes in NORWAY where child sexual abuse is high in foster homes”
I do not understand on what basis you say that child abuse is high in foster homes
and you do not back your claims by numbers. Perhaps you do not speak
Norwegian. But here are some figures:
- 9200 children & youth were in foster homes end 2011
- Between 2000 and 2011, a total of 52 children in foster homes were sexually
abused. 42 persons were convicted and sentenced for these acts.
These facts are available by browsing to: bit.ly/TI9xKj
If you would be so kind as to get facts of child abuse in India and more
importantly, the number of convictions for such abuses, one might perhaps be
able to have a more meaningful discussion about whether child sexual abuse is
high in foster homes in Norway. You dont need to be able to speak Norwegian to
get that data that right?
Mr. John
You need to get your facts right.
The children are in India with the grandparents and their immediate care needs
have been catered to. It is the parents who have been incarcerated in Norway and
the children are not in a foster home.
When prison sentences are implemented in Norway, the law stipulates that the
visitation and care needs of affected children are taken into account. I would refer
you to the Sentencing Act of 2001 (Straffegjennomføringloven) which would apply
in this case. In Chapter 1 of this Act, Section 3, 2nd para, the law clearly states that
“The child’s right to visitation with parents should be given special weightage
during the implementation of the sentence” (Quick & Rough translation).
I do not know how this will be played out during the appeals process.
Milind- If your child has some genuine complaint you should seek
professional help for him. If your child is simply mischievous like
the rest of them, only a little bit more, you need to work with him.
Belting him or scalding him is not a solution. It may well aggravate
the problem by creating in him a recalcitrant streak, or by teaching
him that unless someone is belting you or scalding you, rules aren't
meant to be followed.
Even traffic policemen are humans beings, so if their negligence on a
hot day leads to a serious accident are they to be let off the hook?
Do all parents belt or scald their children to discipline them? The
ones that don't are also humans, aren't they?
Abusing a defenseless child is unpardonable. Doing is repeatedly is even worse. I know firsthand how this can scar a persons life. I was abused as a child myself and I still remeber the hoor filled days when i was branded for a small thing which a child would normally do. Lets face it. Parents these days donot have the time to understand their children. They think beating a child will cause it to somehow become better. The first thing we need to do is educate the parents and not punish them. Jail term is indeed excessive. I know that atleast the Indian parents such as mine are loving but are certainly misguided.
1/2
Many of the Hindu's readers may not speak Norwegian text and I have done a
quick and ready translation excerpts from the verdict. The text translated below is
from the original article published in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten of 4th
Dec.
"...The Oslo District Court asserted that it had been proved beyond reasonable
doubt that the evidence pointed to the boy having been scalded with a hot spoon
or similar implement on the leg. Additionally, the Court determined that the father
had on several occasions hit his son with a belt or similar implement. On at least
one occasion, he had threatened to burn his son's tongue with a hot spoon. The
Court also determined that this ill-treatment had been carried out over a 6 to 7 month period which implied that it could be characterised as repeated ill-treatment.In the Court, the accused have acknowledged that they were aware of the fact that it is illegal to threaten or carry out acts of violence against children in Norway. The judgement states:
"Even though the Court accepts that the ill-treatment was carried out in the context of the upbringing of the child and cultural differences have been cited by the accused, the Court nonetheless cannot consider these as mitigating
circumstances."
All those supporting this judgement (and opposing the parents) need to stay with an errant child on a 24x7 basis. As it is most of today's children are pampered way beyond than our generation and have this unfair sense of entitlement. Staying calm with such children requires patience in monumental proportions.
As a parent of an ADHD child, I can identify & sympathize with Chandrasekhar and Anupama and find this judgement unfair. Agreed branding with an hot iron is not right, but parents are human beings too and believe me, even a parent who is an epitome of patience can snap while disciplining an errant child.
The Govt. can at the most offer counselling to the parents as also remove the child from their custody for a specific (or intermittent) periods of time.
I feel sorry for both Chandrasekhar & Anupama.
At least in countries like Norway, there are laws ENFORCED to protect
the poor children. "Disciplining" means branding the child with a hot
object? A 6-7 year old? Which heartless individual does that? And we
defend them saying it is our culture? Learn the culture of humanity
before you defend a 'culture' that supposedly condones child abuse!
@Krishnan,
I think you haven't grasped my point completely. Look at the situation. The parents are jailed. Now the child is alone. As per the western human right system, the child will either be deported or sent to a care home. In care home, There are no well wishers or people who inspire you for your future. You will be fed and looked after. Thats it. If the child is deported, then the child has to join its parents anyway. In what way you think this system is beneficial in the long run??
I doubt that we have seen the end of this case. It will drag on like the previous Norway affair. There is much that needs to be clarified. And the parents' lawyers who are Norwegians have already signalled that they will appeal against the sentence.
From the childhood onwards the parent should teach good disciplines. Abusing and harassing in cruel manner is not the right way .These type of activity causes the children mentally disturbed and leads to wrong path which affects his future carrier.
arjun- That was in the 1980s...way back. Both India and Norway have
come a long way forward since then.
And as for burning your child with hot spoons to correct them from
being rapists and murderers as some of the learned people seem to
suggest, the end does not justify the means. If it did, the criminal
justice system would become redundant and we might as well torture
anyone suspected of a crime. People who become rapists and murderers
are evil by nature and burning them or whipping them into compliance
in their youth is not a definite corrective measure.
Thirdly ignorance of the law is not a valid defense in any country on
the world. The onus is on the people living in a jurisdiction to learn
the laws of the jurisdiction and ensure compliance on their part.
Fourthly when in Rome do as the Romans. Just as the USA has no
business telling us where to get our oil from we do not have the right
to lecture Norwegians as to the fairness or lack of it in their laws.
Ignorance of local law is not an excuse. The immigrants should
understand and obey the local law before they settle in the particular
country and should abide by them.Such heinous acts towards children if
proven should not be tolerated and the parents responsible should be
imprisoned but since this happened to a indian national in foreign
country there will be diplomatic hassles.At the end lets hope justice is
ensured to the kid and that he be returned to their kin and not to
foster homes in NORWAY where child sexual abuse is high in foster homes.
Now the Norway authorities have created more problems for the kids - by separating the kids from parents.
No sensible parents will cause harm to the kids wantingly - they may threaten , but they will not do anything very harmful.
If parents torture their children, the children think this is normal
and even continue to love their parents as they have no other option.
This is a form of stockholm syndrome.
India is full of children who are emotionally tortured, physically
abused, sold, traded, indentured in slavery and suffer from all forms
of human rights abuses conceived in the minds of adults.
Norway has the highest standards for child protection. Time for India to stop gloating about super power talk, and become a super power at protecting the weakest in our society. Norway is the true super power for children.
Indian parents' way of disciplining their children absolutely needs to
change. While discipline is necessary, it should not be forced via
physical abuse. It is not a secret that Indian parents physically abuse
their children. This must stop. Blaming Norway does not fix the
underlying problem.
Burning skin with a hot spoon was regular punishment to us. I am actually thankful to my parents for these kind of punishments. They made sure that i dint fall prey to bad habits and kept me on the right track. The next gen kids are blowing these must punishments out of proportions. if parents cannot shape the future of the child, who can? i completely agree with comment from John, if the child grows up to be a drug addict or rapist, whether the HRC will take responsibility for that?.
media should stop publicizing these in the name of protection of human rights. Infact I say, these punishments are a must to make the children HUMAN in the first instance.
Children are like flowers and they should be nurtured and taken care of properly.Shame on such parents who blackmail their children and cause physical harm/injury to their children.This case highlights the importance given to child rights & violations in a Scandinavian country which ranks topmost in HDI.
We should respect the laws of the land where we choose to stay or else we should all return to India
Its very disappointing to hear news of action taken by the Norwegian
authorities(NA) on the Indian Couples,second in a row in just 1
year.It seems NA are so biased they dint even listen to the arguments
made by Indian couple in their defense. In the guise of protecting
child rights,It has separated 2 children from their parents at a time
when children need them more than ever.No one disagrees that child
should be provided with a proper childhood experience. But before
harassing the parents of other nationalities, Norway should look into
its own backyard.
Back in early 1980's a child of age 4 years (norw citizen)was being
terribly harassed by his mother, both physically n mentally and it was
enough proven by the psychologists then.He should have been separated
from his mother then,but no action was taken and child continued to
be with his mother under very hostile conditions. And the result is 77
people were shot dead by the same child ( Anders Breivik)in July 2011.
Who is to blame?
India also has child abuse laws. Unfortunately it is overshadowed by Child labor and sexual abuse. Someone is arguing that convicting parents will have negative impact on children. Did we question what impact cuild had when parents themselves tortured child. There was no question of someone to intervene and stop such act. Agreed that 18 and 15 month Jail is harsh, but who are we to question Norwegian laws. WE Indians never cared for such issues.
At least if father is acting as stricter parent, mother should take role of soft parent. When both parents turn abusive, down the road children will have bad upbringing.
When in a foreign land, one should understand it's culture laws and
live. Do in Rome as Romans do or 'Voorudan othu vaal' in Tamil are not
mere words. In Saudi Arabia if you carry Hindu God's pictures, or
women dressed as in India, what will happen. No point in blaming other
countries. Even within India, depending on the locality, region,
political, religion, caste considerations, one has to behave. Child
welfare may be a token word for us, not for all. Thumb sucking,
stammering/ stuttering, bed wetting in children how we deal.Have we
ever appreciate / encourage children for their achievements. OK. We
are the greatest in bringing up children, agreed, then why there are
so many old age homes and deserted parents.
I am not sure why nobody seems to see the fact that this would not have happened if the parents treated their child in a manner they are deserved to be treated.
Norway has child protection laws and its the law of the land that is applied. Its a shame Indian Law does not mind when the children get abused by their parents. If you want to abuse your child and think that is your right, stay in your own country. Why should you go to Norway and end up blaming the Norwegian law, that does not let you to do what you should be utterly ashamed of doing in the first place.
Lets clearly understand what constitute the rights of a parent and what borders on criminal behavior. A parent has every right to correct or guide his child, but that correction or guiding is not done by burning or torturing the child. If we are supporting such behavior then it is wrong. In India all of us as children used to get soundly thrashed as kids and have occasionally passed it on to our children. Now we need to reform ourselves and our ways. We should not only learn to ape the west when it comes to clothes or music we should also learn from other cultures (east or west)if they have something good to offer and also have the greatness to admit to our fault and improve ourselves.
I think the Norwegian Government has been too lenient in sentencing them. If I were to be the judge I would give them anywhere between 3-5 years without parole for the act they have committed.
These are supposed to be some educated people working for reputable firms like TCS but they bring nothing but disgrace to India's name abroad, further strengthening the belief that Indians are the most pedophilic race on this earth we have known so far. It is sad how bad we have deteriorated as nation how we have stooped down to considering we bought the concept of Children's Day and the Thamizh proverb KOZATHAI YUM DEIVAM UM OONDRU - The Child and the Absolute are the same.
Lets not live in denial. Causing burns to a child... I wouldn't do that to a stray dog! That's not disciplining. Lets be very clear. That's somebody's temper unleashed on a defenceless child. Norway did the right thing. You can't inflict something upon your child you're not legally allowed to on any other person. Replace the word "child" with "wife" or "neighbour" and you'll understand what I mean.
Its remarkable how this report has elicited so few comments compared to the one a few months ago on the similar case of a Bengali couple! The fact is the Indian public know they were led along by the media. Whatever be the truth, the Indian media presented a one-sided version favouring the Bengali parents. Now after the drama has played out closer to home and it is clear that the Bengali couple had some domestic problems. Perhaps the Norwegian courts had a point after all. The Hindu please provide a balanced report in the interest of the Vallabhaneni family and all Indians interested in this story.
It's a very unfortunate thing for the parents and especially the kids. But the lessons the rest of us need to learn are very clear, and those lessons do not involve damning Norway for their laws. The lesson is pretty simple - when in Rome......
The law is the law, and has to be followed. And it is different in different countries. And we Indians need to familiarise ourselves with the laws in the countries we go to. We may disagree with the Norwegian law, but while we are in Norway, we have no option but to follow it. And the Norwegian law with respect to child rights is now well known, thanks to the overexposure in the media of the earlier case of the Bhattacharyas, hence it cannot be said that we are ignorant of the draconian rules.
It is therefore unfortunate for the kids, that they had parents who were highly educated, but quite unwise.
The law is the law, and has to be followed. If you do not like it does not mean that you can break it.
What, shocking that they were punished? Only a fool blinded by prejudice in favour of his own community could say so. It is cruelties like the ones committed by these monsters that destroy children. And you claim to want to protect their innocence? All you want to defend is your own groupist loyalties. Burning, beating: you call this civilized child rearing? They beat him for pissing his pants! This is inhuman. No hell can be too hot for those who terrorize children, and for those who defend them.
The parents deserve this sentence as they burnt their child's leg.
Cruelty to children is highly deplorable. The parents in this case deserve rigorous punishment but probably for a lesser duration.
Is the 18 and 15 months prison sentencing a bit more?
For the record Mr. John, alcoholics, drug addicts and the other likes
are also pulled up by the human rights activists.
If you think physical abuse by a parent is not as serious as an
alcoholic parent, you really need help..
Every country has their own culture and values. So the law there would
be in accordance with it. We can't blame a country for following their
own laws. The couple should have been well aware of their actions and
consequences as well as the surroundings.
I am shocked at the reaction of some of the commentators. IF it is a fact that the parents branded their son with a hot spoon, the parents should be sentenced and the child taken away from them. I understand the concept of discipline, but whether you are in India, Norway, or Mali -- for heaven's sake, stand up for the right of every child to be nurtured in an environment where there is no fear of physical abuse.
This incident having many lessons to Indians
As an Indian, we never bother about how our neighbor treat their
children in their home, we just think its none of our business to
involve in that, let them treat their children whatever the way they want. But truth is, the children with bad experience @ their home, eventually become ant-social element, or will have less social responsibility. This situation is bad for any healthy society, so it must be society’s responsibility that children are treated fairly at their homes. And I feel that is what Norway has shown to us. Norway having better programs in their society to treat children from such backgrounds, so hope they will treat that child better than his parents did, till the parents realize their mistake.
It is appropriate that Indian government asks the Norway judiciary to
share the proceedings and proof for the punishment.If found true and
acceptable,then the local law of land should take over.Simply
pressurizing the Norway government won't be a good stand. Afterall
,threatening a child with a hot spoon or harming him is indeed a crime
isn't it ? (if it is true)
If burning of child's leg is true by the parents, they deserve the sentence. they are unfit to be parents in the first place. I cannot dream small child being burnt by his parents - threaten to burn the tongue also - so barbaric act - at least other parents in Norway will not dare to do this
As always amazed by the gap between the Hindu and its readership.
What kind of world are all the above commenters living in, in which they
consider branding a child a suitable form of punishment. Perhaps instead
of insinuating about what the child would grow up to be we should look
around at our own children.
Adopt culture or Perish on a foreign land. My dad would have got life
term in Norwegian court but that does not make him bad person.
It's quite clear that court has proven that the child had burn marks and
threats from his parents. I for one, was not brought up by parents in such a manner and I have grown up a fine human being.
Indians seriously need to get a lesson on good upbringing. This is no way to teach a child manners. Though I do agree that 18 month in Prison is very harsh for this offence.
I am glad these parents have to pay for the mistreatment of children. Indians or not, rules apply to all. Maybe they could get away with this behavior in India, but not in foreign lands. Glad they got what they deserved.
You need to follow the rules when you're living abroad. And burning your child with a
spoon, especially, a special needs child is unacceptable. This should never have happened. It will definitely not go unnoticed in Norway, which has stringent laws against child abuse. Unfortunately, its the children affected the most in this case, which is really sad. I hope for the best for these kids.
Neither Oslo is Hyderabad nor Norway is India to get away with anything
and everything with money, power and right 'connections'. When we live
elsewhere, we need to go by laws of that land. For once GOI decided
sensibly to stay away from a criminal case. In India parents could get
away by blaming a poor teacher who does not have the access to equitable
justice.
Before we point fingers at other countries, look into what is happening in
our country day in and day out. Is there any Law and Order in our country?
Clearly overkill on the part of the Norwegians.
Shocking. Govt of India, should use their good offices and see that the couple is send back
to India. The children should not suffer mental death. They are embodiments of innocence
And their interests should not be jeopardized in any manner whatsoever.
India have to have social manners
In the name of human rights, Norway has just spoiled the future of a child. If the child grows up into a drug addict or an alcoholic or a rapist, will the human right activist take responsibility for that and send themselves to prison??
The western version of human rights is too liberal and requires amendment. I live in UK and i can see the impact of "too much" human right infront of my eyes.
Please Email the Editor