Madhavi Rajadhyaksha, TNN | Oct 6, 2012, 06.37AM IST
MUMBAI: The violence inflicted on three-month-old Aahuti Joshi by her parents that led to her death on Monday is no aberration.
Children in the city, particularly girls, are routinely beaten, battered and abused—with more than one crime recorded against them daily. There is obviously much more abuse going on behind closed doors—in homes and schools. Experts say many of these crimes are committed by citizens who vent their stress on the most vulnerable section of society.
The city police's records reveal that over 425 violent crimes, mainly rapes and murders, were committed against children in Mumbai in 2011 alone.
Juxtapose this chilling figure against the fact that Maharashtra remains the state with the poorest conviction rate (9.9%, against the national average of 34.6%) and you have a recipe for unchecked abuse of kids.
The crimes underline another worrying trend: the girl child is being targeted more often. Last month, passers-by saw 25-year-old Reshma Waghmare, in a fit of rage, fling her twin four-year-old daughters from a skywalk outside Grant Road railway station. Earlier in the year, a seven-year-old girl landed up in Sion hospital with burns inflicted on her body.
Statistics too bear this out. Of the 425 crimes against children last year, the biggest figure is that of 117 girls being raped. Police records also admit to five instances of foeticide/infanticide, a number child experts believe is highly underreported.
"When a child is battered or killed, the child is unwanted. In a society marked by preference for a son and where daughters are looked upon as a liability, girls are more at a risk of such crimes," said Nandita Gandhi of women resource centre Akshara, pointing out that the anti-girl preference is seen right from before birth (in prenatal sex determination) to recent instances of violence to medical neglect and abandonment.
Nilima Mehta, former chairperson of the child welfare committee, believes the growth in recorded violence against children is an outcome of more robust crime reporting as well as a manifestation of the increasing stress in a city like Mumbai. "These cases show an individual's inability to cope with frustration, anger or stress in life. Such crimes indicate that adults are venting their stress on children, who are the most vulnerable and voiceless section of society," said Mehta.
Bruised babies landing up in hospitals are drawing concern the world over. A study released by Yale School of Medicine this week shows that child abuse in the US, in terms of head injuries, burns and fractures, has increased by 5% in the past 12 years.
Pooja Taparia of voluntary organization Arpan, which works against child sexual abuse, believes empowering children from a very young age about abuse is one way to fight the evil. She says children should be equipped to tell the difference between safe and unsafe touch and encouraged to confide in parents and teachers if they feel violated.
Others believe bringing offenders to book is the only solution. "The increasing brutality indicates that fear of the law is going down," said Akshara's Nandita Gandhi. N D Jagtap, chairperson of the child welfare committee of suburban Mumbai, too, believes child offenders should be brought to book at the earliest.
But the queue of cases is disappointing. Of the 17,383 child-related cases filed in various courts of Maharashtra, 94% were pending hearing at the end of 2011
Link: Crimes against girls begin very early
Children in the city, particularly girls, are routinely beaten, battered and abused—with more than one crime recorded against them daily. There is obviously much more abuse going on behind closed doors—in homes and schools. Experts say many of these crimes are committed by citizens who vent their stress on the most vulnerable section of society.
The city police's records reveal that over 425 violent crimes, mainly rapes and murders, were committed against children in Mumbai in 2011 alone.
Juxtapose this chilling figure against the fact that Maharashtra remains the state with the poorest conviction rate (9.9%, against the national average of 34.6%) and you have a recipe for unchecked abuse of kids.
The crimes underline another worrying trend: the girl child is being targeted more often. Last month, passers-by saw 25-year-old Reshma Waghmare, in a fit of rage, fling her twin four-year-old daughters from a skywalk outside Grant Road railway station. Earlier in the year, a seven-year-old girl landed up in Sion hospital with burns inflicted on her body.
Statistics too bear this out. Of the 425 crimes against children last year, the biggest figure is that of 117 girls being raped. Police records also admit to five instances of foeticide/infanticide, a number child experts believe is highly underreported.
"When a child is battered or killed, the child is unwanted. In a society marked by preference for a son and where daughters are looked upon as a liability, girls are more at a risk of such crimes," said Nandita Gandhi of women resource centre Akshara, pointing out that the anti-girl preference is seen right from before birth (in prenatal sex determination) to recent instances of violence to medical neglect and abandonment.
Nilima Mehta, former chairperson of the child welfare committee, believes the growth in recorded violence against children is an outcome of more robust crime reporting as well as a manifestation of the increasing stress in a city like Mumbai. "These cases show an individual's inability to cope with frustration, anger or stress in life. Such crimes indicate that adults are venting their stress on children, who are the most vulnerable and voiceless section of society," said Mehta.
Bruised babies landing up in hospitals are drawing concern the world over. A study released by Yale School of Medicine this week shows that child abuse in the US, in terms of head injuries, burns and fractures, has increased by 5% in the past 12 years.
Pooja Taparia of voluntary organization Arpan, which works against child sexual abuse, believes empowering children from a very young age about abuse is one way to fight the evil. She says children should be equipped to tell the difference between safe and unsafe touch and encouraged to confide in parents and teachers if they feel violated.
Others believe bringing offenders to book is the only solution. "The increasing brutality indicates that fear of the law is going down," said Akshara's Nandita Gandhi. N D Jagtap, chairperson of the child welfare committee of suburban Mumbai, too, believes child offenders should be brought to book at the earliest.
But the queue of cases is disappointing. Of the 17,383 child-related cases filed in various courts of Maharashtra, 94% were pending hearing at the end of 2011
Link: Crimes against girls begin very early
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