Minor girl child tortured, stepfather arrested

In India, around 10,975 cases of physical abuse were reported to CHILDLINE, out of which 5637 were family related and 237 were due to step parents, as per CHILDNNET publication 2017 (analysis of calls on 1098).

Pooja was living with her mother and stepfather. She was facing physical torture by her stepfather on several occasions.  Her mother was aware about all this torture but she used to bear it all, as she was completely dependent on Pooja’s stepfather financially and never revealed this incident to anybody fearing her husband.

One day local people heard poignant cry of the girl and tried to intervene. The parents did not heed the requests of local people and ignored them. The neighboring people informed CHILDLINE that the girl is facing the torture from her stepfather from long time. CHILDLINE immediately visited the place to verify the authenticity of the information. As the team reached the girl’s house, the girl ran towards CHILDLINE team and tried to hide behind them with timid looks.

Following the inquiry by CHILDLINE team, a rescue team comprises of CHILDLINE members and police visited the house and rescued Pooja.  Looking at her injuries, CHILDLINE team immediately sent her to the hospital for medical checkup. With the request of CHILDLINE, the concerned hospital provided proper treatment to Pooja.

CHILDLINE team filed an FIR against the accused i.e. Pooja’s stepfather under the Sections 341 IPC & Sec 75 of JJ Act 2015 and he was arrested.  The necessary support and counseling was provided to Pooja before she was presented in front of Child Welfare Committee (CWC).  Currently, Pooja is staying at Government Children Home for temporary period. 

Disclaimer:  Names and details have been changed to maintain confidentiality as required.

Two children found at the railway station given shelter

CHILDLINE is operational in 93 railway stations across India and has been successful in assisting more than 45000 needy children. This is further going to be extended to more railways progressively.

In August 2018, during a regular platform outreach activity, CHILDLINE Railway team found a boy (5 years) and girl (3 years) accompanied by a lady at the platform in a suspicious manner.

After interacting with the lady, CHILDLINE team realised that the lady is mentally unwell and she is the mother of these two children. She couldn’t tell about their native address or any other details about herself and the children. Looking at the circumstances, the CHILDLINE team realised that the children are homeless and their mother being mentally ill is incapable of looking after them.

In order to ensure care and safety for the children, CHILDLINE team decided to take up the case and informed the matter to Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police as well as further shared the case details to the Child Welfare Committee and Women Cell of the district. Thereafter, children and the mother were shifted to a shelter home for a temporary stay. In the meanwhile, medical examination of the mother and children was carried out.

Currently both the children are settled and have been admitted to the school for primary education in Calicut and the mother is undergoing treatment at the Mental Health Centre and recovering well. CHILDLINE team managed to give care and protection to the children found at the railway station.

Disclaimer:  Names and details have been changed to maintain confidentiality as required.

School dropout boy got back to school

During the year 2017, child labour cases have increased marginally by 6.5% which includes mainly children who are involved in work at restaurant / dhaba, hazardous work, domestic work and beggary. While in some cases children are forced, in other cases they work by their own will.

It was in the month of August 2018, that the state of Kerala was affected by severe floods, where in, more than 400 people lost their lives, property and valuables. The flood left families and communities with diverse negative impacts.

A 16-year-old boy named Aman was a bright student of 11^th grade in an aided-school of Alappuzha district. Post Floods, when he stopped attending school, his school teacher decided to approach CHILDLINE for support. On enquiry, it was found that he lost his mother since his birth and the father due to illness at the age of five years. Ever since then he had been raised by his grandmother who was taking care of Aman. Kerela floods left Aman’s life upturned and their house was completely damaged leaving him and his grandmother homeless.  They got a place at a relief camp where they managed to stay for a month.

To add to their crisis, the grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. While struggling in those adversities, Aman was forced to leave the studies and started working in a local bakery to meet basic expenses and medical expenses of his grandmother.

CHILDLINE team, as part of UNICEF supported initiative ‘Safeguarding children through increased protection’, met Aman and heard him thoroughly, understood circumstances and prepared a brief report of the situation. CHILDLINE team presented the report to the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of the district, recommending them sponsorship for the child. The case was processed and Aman was given a sponsorship of Rs 2000 per month.

Presently, with the support of CHILDLINE, Aman is continuing his studies and plans for a prosperous career. Grandmother’s medical expenses are also taken care and they are now living happily with one of his uncles

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Disclaimer:  Names and details have been changed to maintain confidentiality as required.

9-year-old girl faced sexual assault, perpetrator arrested

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a pressing human right issue and public health concern. Sexual violence takes place in all settings: at home, schools, child care institutions and in the community. But never did 10 years old Safina (name changed) thought she would be sexually assaulted in a theatre while watching a movie with her mother.

CHILDLINE Malappuram team, Kerala, was approached by a social worker who informed about a child sexual abuse incident happened in a cinema theatre and the incident was caught in the CCTV footage of the theatre.

CHILDLINE Co-ordinator directly went to the theatre management and enquired about the incident and video footage and suggested not to disclose the incident or CCTV video footage to anyone else other than Police to ensure confidentiality of the child.

After checking the CCTV video footage, CHILDLINE understood that the child and her mother had been sexually abused at the same time. The CCTV visuals showed that the accused was sexually abusing the girl throughout the duration of the movie without any objection from her own mother.

While checking the CCTV footage of car parking from the theatre, CHILDLINE got the car number of the accused and collected his address from the police contact.

As per the information, CHILDLINE submitted a mandatory report as per POCSO Act 2012 to the police station. CHILDLINE team followed up with the police for further case progress details at different intervals thereafter. The police did not even respond nor have registered an FIR.

After a few days of the incident, a News channel telecasted those CCTV footages blurred video and demanded legal action against the accused and against alleged police inaction. After the telecast police registered an FIR and a middle-aged man was taken into custody. On the same day police presented the child in front of Child Welfare Committee and the child was placed to shelter home. Police registered an FIR against the accused and arrested the child’s mother for the charges of abetting and not performing parental responsibility. The accused’s mother had confessed that the molestation had happened with her consent and revealed the suspect was the owner of the quarters where the mother and child lived on rent.

With great efforts from CHILDLINE, Safina is now safe in a shelter home and recovering well from her past conditions.

Disclaimer:  Names and details have been changed to maintain confidentiality as required.