Children more prone
to sexual abuse
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Every second child in India suffers sexual assault. Approximately every fifteen minutes, a child is molested, or raped, in the country. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), more than 50,000 cases of crime against children fell under the ambit of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
Sexual assault, sexual harassment and collection, and distribution, of pornography are common sexual offences covered under the POCSO, 2012. The 2012 POCSO was a strengthened law, different from the earlier one. In 2018, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said boys were liable for compensation following sexual attacks.
The ordeal of having to bear the indelible scars of abuse lifelong can be crippling. Emotional upheaval and stunted growth, in due course, are known after– effects. Learning disabilities can act as roadblocks for the growth of a child. Community participation in educating the child about “safe” and “unsafe” touch is an important factor that can control the preventable scourge.
One reason why the NCRB report shows an increase in sexual offences against children is because more and parents are forthcoming about the disgusting turn of events in their children’s lives.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Cash-for-jobs scam
getting murkier
It must be said that the cash-for-jobs scam is getting bigger by the day if not by the hour. More skeletons are tumbling from the closet. Police complaints are being filed and more FIRs are registered leading to arrests.
On hindsight, it makes one wonder whether it is indeed a cash-for-jobs scam or an unofficial cash-for-jobs “scheme”. The scandal affects the rich but not as much as it affects the poor. It affects the elderly parents as well as the youth.
It does not differentiate between the brilliant students who have burnt the midnight-oil and come out in shining colours and the duffers who have just managed to pass. The only thing that matters is how much the parents can pay to get their ward a job. The youth of today will lose faith in education and there will be drop-outs.
This will lead to a dip in the standard of education. Those who get a job by paying a bribe will indulge in corrupt practices while working for the government as they have to recover the money paid as bribe. This will result in a vicious circle and corruption will be the in-thing in government offices. The scandal will leave the bright students heartbroken. The impact is already seen as post-graduates apply for jobs of peons. Until and unless the malady is nipped in the bud and the “cancer” stopped from spreading, the frustration among the bright youth will grow and they will be left with no option but to migrate to foreign land seeking greener-pasture.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Attacks on doctors
is shocking
The most disgusting incidents of brutal attacks on two medical professionals at two different Government Hospitals at Chennai was not only shocking and also showed the kind of security lapse prevailing in our nation for doctors.
Whether it’s the KAR hospital at Kolkata or at Kalaignar Centenary Hospital, Chennai the situation is one and the same.
Dr Balaji Jaganathan was stabbed seven times with nobody around to protect him and while he is undergoing treatment at the ICU, yet Dr Hariharan, an assistant professor in Stanley Medical College’s Department of Psychology was punched by a patient during a medical checkup.
These only proves of security lapse in the hospitals.
The hospital should be manned by armed police and not private security agencies and CCTVs should be installed in the future imorder to avoid such ugly incidents on life saving medical professionals.
A P Thiruvadi, Chennai
