India has a really bad record when it comes to the statistics of child abuse and mental torture among the small kids which happens because of the bad intentions and criminal intent of some persons in India.Further, some of the small children are even forced in the beggary and criminal occupations because of the greed and bad intentions of some ill-minded people in the country.
They are not given the proper food, proper clothes, proper shelter, proper sanitation etc. which seriously makes their lives miserable and that makes them vulnerable to bad health, sleep deprivation, mental and emotional stress etc. Accordingly the child abuse is not only done by the ill-minded people but also by the parents of the children itself which seriously hampers their lives. One of the biggest social stigmas attached to a society is that of child abuse. 53% of children in India face some form of child sexual abuse. According to the National Crimes Record Bureau, the cases of rape and murder of children every year.
According to data by the National Crime Record Bureau, a total of 109 children were sexually abused every year in 2018, which showed a 22 percent jump in such cases from the previous year. As many as 21,605 child rapes were in 2018 which included 21,401 rapes of girls and 204 of boys the data showed.
How Children are Abused
Child Trafficking
Many a times children are kidnapped from the custody of their parents and then sold in open market. In case of a girl child, many a times, she ends up in prostitution or rest of the the children end up in begging. Child Trafficking is a huge problem in our country. Sometimes, the children are kidnapped at the time of birth and in some cases, the parents themselves give away their children because they are unable to take care of them. There have been cases in the past, wherein parents and relatives of the children have sold the children for some petty amount.
These children are then sent by agencies to foreign countries, where they then end up working as child labours. These children sometimes, end up working at homes of the rich foreigners or become a part of the Flesh Trade Industry
In a Country, where population is the major problem. It is a challenge to control Human Trafficking.
Organ Sale
Organ Donars are in Huge Demand. Sometimes, it is tough to get the right Bone Marrow or the right Heart. Most of the times, these children, who are abused by their families or Kidnapped unknowingly become a part of the Organ Donation Scandal. A lot of Powerful people are always involved in this as this crime fetches the highest amount of money.
Begging
There are some beggars, who have fixed Deposit worth Crores of Rupees in their Bank Accounts. We are always sympathetic towards beggars and especially if they are children, our hands immediately reach our pockets. A lot of times, the children who are kidnapped end up as beggars on the roads. The worst is sometimes, these beggars, take children on rent from other poor parents, so that they can be used for begging. Some poor parents also have no solution and therefore end up giving their tiny toddlers for rent, sometimes for as less as Rs. 50/- per day. These Toddlers are mostly drugged by the beggars so that they sleep during the day time and do not demand for food or are not irritated by the traffic sound.
Begging is one big racket, which indirectly, we have only encouraged in a way.
Prostitution and Child Pornography
Many a times, pre-teenagers are kidnapped and then injected with growth hormones, so that they can be introduced to the dangerous world of Flesh Trade. Often, a Virgin Girl fetches the highest Cost and therefore, many a times, tiny girls are kidnapped. Child Pornography, is another side of Prostitution. Most of the times, the children, who grow up on the street are called by the film makers. They are provided with good food, shown Pornographic Videos and forced to enact the acts as shown in the same video.
Domestic Violence at Home
How many times, have we not heard scary stories about how some children are abused by their own parents. Sometimes, in the name of discipline, parents do not know, when they unknowingly cross the line and become abusive. It is mandatory for many people to understand that good parenting does not mean hitting your child or taking away their childhood. Unfortunately, Child Abuse happens in a lot of homes, but we barely understand the same and therefore fail to report about it.
Child Labour
All our Tea Stalls have permanant Chotu’s, our Hotels have Anna’s, who are barely 14 years of age. Poverty forces many children to take up menial jobs for less amount. The number of children in Textile industry, Fireworks industry are onl increasing day by day. Child labour is a reality, which we all are aware about, yet we fail to stop the same.
Child Abuse Laws in India-
Child sexual abuse in India have been enacted as a part of the Child protection policies in India. The Parliament of India passed the ‘Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Bill, 2011” regarding Child Sexual Abuse on 22 May 2012 into an Act.
Goa’s Children’s Act, 2003 was the only specific piece of child abuse legislation before the 2012 Act. Child Sexual Abuse was prosecuted before the 2012 Act. Child Sexual Abuse was prosecuted before the 2012 Act. Child Sexual Abuse was prosecuted under the following sections of Indian Penal Code-
IPC (1860) 375 Rape
IPC (1860) 354 – Outraging the Modesty of a Woman
IPC (1860) 377- Unnatural Offences
IPC 354
IPC 377
The Domestic Violence law does cover child abuse as well in some ways, in terms of sexual and (violent) physical abuse
But in particularly, as such India does not have any laws which directly addresses the abuses of child by their parents especially verbal and corporal. But existing laws of Child Rights and Abuses can be used to frame even Parents of a child.
Flaws in these Laws- There are no particular laws or mechanisms where a child or adult child can go for justice or protection for all the abuse, trauma and torture they are bearing from their parents.
People need to change their mindset and understand that parents are becoming evil in many cases out of their ego, family politics, unfulfilled desires and they victimise children to cover their own faults.
The Domestic Violence Law does not cover Child Abuse as well in some ways, in terms of sexual and (Violent) physical.
But irrespective of what sort of laws we have there are major hindrances in practice. One thing is the attitude or value system where children don’t have much value in themselves. The dice is heavily loaded against the child when it is adults who abuse and also adults who shall provide justice and protection.
Another thing is there has been unsurprisingly no investment in the mechanisms around this and other social issues. The Domestic Violence Act requires the woman or child. There is no such infrastructure that is passable. We have no social workers and social officers who are adequately educated and who can deal with the details of giving protection. There are no established protocols nor empowered social officers to deal with such issues.
Famous Cases-
Jai Prakash vs State of Rajasthan on 22 February 2006
Sakshi vs Union of India on 26 May 2004
Palanivel vs State Inspector of Police on 18 December 2018
Court on Its Own Motion vs State on 4 August 2018
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