Hyderabad kid sexually abused, school unmoved

In July 2014, when a 6-year-old student was allegedly sexually assaulted by an employee in a well-known school in Bengaluru, it created a furore. A police case was filed and protests by parents forced the school to stay shut for days at the end. Civil society came out in large numbers, demanding action against the school management and asked educational spaces in the city and elsewhere to take steps to keep their children safe. 

 

But instead of ensuring foolproof security, schools in Bengaluru expressed their inability to spare funds for more CCTVs and put in place a standard protocol to screen employees and do background checks. 

 

Cut to June 2016. An 11-year-old student has alleged sexual harassment by the watchman at a school in Hyderabad. The parents of this class 6 student complained to the school management soon after the incident took place on Saturday. But when the school did not take any action, they lodged a complaint with the police which has registered a case against the watchman and the school under Section 354 (A) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). 

 

The State Council for Human Rights of Children (SCHRC), a child rights organisation has taken note of the incident. "It is the duty of the school to give safety and security to the children right from school to the home and home to school. That they are lacking," says Achyuta Rao, Member of the SCHRC.

 

The parents, understandably, are reluctant to speak out in public. Maintaining confidentiality is of course, critical in such cases. Also, the child will continue in the same school and take a 'confrontationist' or even a 'questioning' approach won't augur well for the child, given the circumstances. The parents loathe to move her out as even a child and parents who dare to speak up, are likely to be labelled as 'trouble-makers'. 

 

Child rights activist Isidore Phillips says this shows the unequal relationship between the parents and the management. "The parents are forced to compromise always. They are silent victims of the system. They are helpless. And it is as if the system says, it is ok," says Phillips.  

 

The accused watchman claims innocence and has asked the police to check the CCTV footage. The police say they are investigating the case.

 

Well-known activist Dr Sunitha Krishnan points out that this is where a sex offenders registry would be a useful deterrent. This would be a list of known sex offenders who may have been convicted by the court so that children and vulnerable individuals can be kept away from direct exposure. 

 

Read more by this columnist: As Telangana turns two, there is a method to KCR's politics

 

Dr Krishnan went to the Supreme court last year to ensure standard protocols to ensure sex offenders don't get away. ``Safe spaces are shrinking in our society. We need to establish an institutional framework to ensure that the rapist does not go scot-free,'' she says. 

 

As the case in this Hyderabad school is investigated, it is also time to review what lessons were learned from Bengaluru and whether schools have woken up to the need to keep their spaces safe.