Team Herald
MARGAO: Bailancho Ekvott President Auda Viegas while advising journalists to keep in mind the guidelines issued under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, condemned the manner in which Mahila Congress President Pratima Coutinho is seeking publicity in violation of POCSO and demanded that political activists should not meddle with children.
Briefing media persons she condemned Pratima’s act of posing with the mother of a minor child who was a victim of molestation and said it amounted to revealing the identity of the minor victim as her mother was brought before the public.
“Pratima is vying for the Congress ticket for the Lok Sabha and for that purpose she has no right whatsoever to drag Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in the matter as neither Manohar nor his son had interfered in any manner in the police investigation,” said Auda.
Revealing that she was the NGO called by the police in the matter and that she interviewed the victim child, she was all praise for the police who was arrested within two hours of the incident and was in jail for nearly a month before he was released on bail.
While pointing out that the Child Welfare Committee should decide who could interact with the victim child, Auda questioned whether Mahila Congress is an NGO equipped to deal with victimised minors or whether they are only seeking publicity.
Clamping down upon some Mahila Congress members calling on the DGP to drop POSCO case against Pratima, she said no police officer has the right to remove anybody from such a case. “Pratima claims to be a lawyer so let her clear her name in the court instead of trying to pressurise government servants,” said Auda.
To further prove her case against the Mahila Congress meddling with minor children, she said the Mahila Congress took great pride in one case where a rapist married the victim and wondered whether that was a happy marriage as the girl was earlier traumatised by the very same person who has now become her husband.
“I am of the considered opinion that political activists should not meddle with children and I totally condemn using victimised children for the purpose of publicity which actually amounts to making politics out of a tragedy,” she said.
