The recent sexual assaults on minors have raised serious questions about the safety of the children.
M D Singh, former DG & IGP, said usually in such cases, the accused was someone known to the victim’s family. Either a neighbour or a domestic help or someone who regularly visit the house of the victim could commit such crimes, he said.
“There should be no mercy for such accused and parents should check the background, and mental and physical make-up of the persons before letting them close to their children. Both the police and the court need to consider such cases seriously,” Singh added.
Forensic Mental Health Specialist Reeti Rekhi said pedophilia was not curable, but it could be controlled. “Pedophiles usually go to places where children play or gather in large numbers. They dress up and behave like proper adults and look for vulnerable children,” she said.
Identifying a pedophile might be a difficult task, but making children strong and confident was, most of the times, the first step to make them less vulnerable to sexual crimes, she added.
“Parents need to look out for their children’s toys as they can be misused. They should also watch their children. Appointing a same sex supervisor will help and conducting a background check on the children’s supervisor is important. People who enter the house need to be screened,” Reeti added.
Physical violation and rape could have a deep impact on the children, she said.