Obvious truths aren’t often obvious enough. Here’s one of the most obvious truths that screams at us silently in bold letters but is stubbornly ignored: “If it has happened to somebody, it can happen to anybody. And that ‘anybody’ could be one of us.”
Over the last two weeks, residents of Chennai and beyond have been shaken to the roots as details of the sexual assault of an eleven-year-old hearing-impaired girl have been coming to light. The crime had been going on for six months. It involved many men; according to a newspaper report, 17 men have been arrested on the charge of aggravated sexual assault. It was taking place at what is expected to be the safest place for the girl – the apartment complex she lived in. The crime had been committed by men employed at the gated community -- as security personnel, lift operators, plumbers and so on – and therefore, expected to serve the community.
Following reports of the heinous crime, I approached gated communities across Chennai to find out if the incident had led them to review and, if necessary, refresh their initiatives ensuring protection of their children. I was surprised and a tad disappointed by the response, which made it clear that most communities did not entertain the possibility of something similar happening in their neck of the woods.
The security measures they have taken are mostly broad-based, and address only the general questions of safety.
So, we are presenting a list of special child-safety measures apartment complexes/ gated communities should put in place. We arrived at this list based on brainstorming sessions with residents of such communities.
1. Frequented and unfrequented spaces
A team of residents should take a survey of places in a gated community that are frequented by children. Doing so would throw up surprises. Children would certainly make use of the playthings installed at the designated play zone. But children are blithe spirits and their games don’t always follow a script and respect designated play areas. Games such as hide-and-seek and treasure hunt require them to seek unfrequented spaces. Keeping these things in mind, Priya Shankar, a member of the residents’ welfare association at Vishranthi Coconut Grove, a gated community in Velachery, says commonly overlooked areas should be brought under CCTV surveillance.
“They include basements, parking areas, alleyways and lifts. In addition, spaces frequented by children such as playground, gym, swimming pool and open spaces should also be brought under the electronic eye. Gated communities should be proactive and work towards preventing crime of any nature, which means they should monitor CCTV footage on a daily basis. Such an exercise may open up dangers that have been under the radar.”
2. Parents and children’s play groups
In recent times, a raft of offbeat WhatsApp groups have made the headlines. To give an example, a car-pooling WhatsApp group created by residents of DLF Garden City in Semmancheri to ensured last-mile connectivity for themselves.
Now, how about a WhatsApp group that unites parents of children at a gated community? Only parents who display extreme commitment to child safety should be encouraged to join the group. In our country, as in many others, children aged 13 and above can be part of WhatsApp groups. So, these children can also be a part of this group. Such a digital exercise will help keep a digital watch over children, especially the smaller ones, as they go out to play in the common areas. When the children go out to play or when they return home, each parent can record these facts with short messages.
Monitoring should simultaneously happen offline too. A “playtime monitoring chart” can be drawn up, whereby parents take turns, from day to day, to serve as monitors who watch over the playing kids. With messages on the WhatsApp group, they will know how many children are out there playing and can do a count, from time to time, and relay the information on the WhatsApp group.
3. Create your intelligence network
At a gated community, numbers are a strength. For, there will be no dearth of experts to guide others. In a 2,000-member gated community, the odds of finding a doctor, a lawyer or any other professional to have a second opinion are always high. However, numbers are a disadvantage too, as the controllable variables go up considerably. Each family will have visitors, which include helpers and other service providers. In addition, there will be people doing menial and odd jobs for the community on a regular and semi-regular basis. Residents should communicate information about these people on a common platform. A resident of a gated community in Adyar says the presence of service and maintenance personnel should be shared. Residents should keep a tab on them and make sure they leave the premises once the work is done. V.S. Ramana, a resident of Olympia Opulent in Navalur, points out that to reach this stage of information-sharing residents should first interact more with each other, through community programmes.
