Distractions of the ongoing violence in Kashmir, and the skeletons falling out of the closet of the CWG have led us to almost forget the shocking incidents of child abuse that have rocked our country. In Delhi, a school van driver allegedly raped, sodomised and drugged three children aged between 8 and 12, who were entrusted to his care, for a period of 18 months. We have given no attention and exposure to this heinous act.
There has always been a general public reluctance to confront the entire issue of child abuse, which to me is the most repugnant and unforgivable of crimes, even more so than murder and rape. In our country, a child, in the form of Bal Krishna and Bal Ganesha, is worshipped. Such detestable acts against such innocent beings are absolutely criminal. In the western world, even the Catholic Church has been shaken at its roots by the exposure of widespread paedophilia amongst its clergy, but in India, we seem deliberately to look away from this most shameful of perversions,and turn a blind eye to it.
Although child abuse is horrifyingly common in India, it has been criminally underplayed here too. Sexual abuse apart, children here are also subject to economic necessities which compel them to do hard manual labour, often in hazardous and brutal conditions, in order to survive. It has become a very common sight indeed that children are begging in the streets and I am very sure that they are made to do the same by some heartless and ruthless thugs.Although India has the RTI Act and the largest number of anti-child labour laws than any other country in the world, it also has the largest number of child workers.
It is time we step up our conscience and vigilance too, start implementing the plethora of regulations that already exist prohibiting such disgraceful and cowardly acts towards infants, and stop the future of our country from being brutalized, sodomised and tortured.
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