Team Herald
MAPUSA: In the wake of the kidnapping attempt at a Mapusa school last week, parents of school-going children have raised the issue of insufficient security at school premises, and call for immediate installation of surveillance tools like CCTV cameras within school premises and even street cameras around educational institutes, to prevent such brazen crimes against children.
Meanwhile, several schools have issued circulars assuring parents that they would ensure their CCTVs are in working condition. Mapusa MLA Joshua D’Souza also told Herald that they would soon ensure that all major points in Mapusa are covered by CCTV cameras, as it is in Panjim.
Parents also stress the importance of training children not to trust or be lured away by strangers from a very young age and teaching them ways to extricate themselves from dangerous situations. The father of the Class 5 student of a reputed Mapusa school who managed to thwart an abduction attempt by asking the kidnapper for a ‘family code’, told Herald that they did not have a family code, but that it was a good idea to teach children a password that is given only to trusted individuals, in case of emergency.
“Apart from this, parents need to train them to think on their feet. Schools also need to be more vigilant about people allowed to enter their premises,” he said. Another parent, Yashashri Naik, said that school children are usually only targeted when they are alone, and schools need to ensure their safety until their parents pick them up. They should not be allowed to roam around alone, or wait on the street, to be picked up, she said.
