BENGALURU : Out of the over 200 calls the child helpline 1098 or Childline receives per day in the city, as many as 10 are made by children themselves to report distress or abuse they are facing or to report on cases concerning their friends or acquaintances. Since Childline started in 2001 in the state, G Nagasimha Rao, nodal supervisor, Childline, Bengaluru, says that the number of calls have increased manifold.
"There was a case when a child was caught smoking by his school authorities and they asked him to call his parents to school. This particular child was so scared of his parents that he called the line and called me asking me to go as his parent. He was under a lot of stress," says Rao who also also runs an NGO called Child Rights Trust.
In another case, Rao recalls a case where a child called the helpline telling them of how he was verbally abused by his teacher infront of his classmates. "In this case the child felt very humiliated and did not know who to turn to," adds Rao.There are also cases when friends of a child call the line in order to report suicidal tendencies of their friends and asking for help. "We have noticed that many of the children who call do not have a very strong peer group who they can fall back on. Their parents also seem to busy to notice their distress. It is a very sad state of affairs," adds Rao.
Out of the over 200 calls the line receives per day, as many as 30 are genuine grievances. Most number of cases relate to child labour and in recent months Rao says there is a surge in reporting about cases of child sexual abuse.Rao says his organisation also plans to start a group comprising of children who can counsel children in distress. "Such a group can help a child be more at ease since they are of the same age," he says.