HYDERABAD: Even months after her 8-year-old child was stubbed with cigarette butts and sexually assaulted by his ayah in school, the trauma remains fresh in the mind of Arifa Aslam (name changed). The boy was unable to walk or talk, leave alone express what he was going through. While the trial against the assaulter is in progress and her son is in a much better place, Arifa hopes justice will prevail so that no other child will face what her son has gone through.
Arifa echoes the pain of several other mothers who children have been sexually abused or raped. She said that Bharosa, the one stop crisis centre that was set up in the city by Hyderabad Police two years ago, will ensure justice. She hopes that prevention of such crimes will also see the light of the day. As for her child, he has had medical and psychological help from the Centre and is recovering.
On the second anniversary of the Centre, Hyderabad City Police shared that Bharosa has reached out to more than 3,500 clients and the aim is to take the message to every household. An awareness vehicle with a public service message was flagged off by actor Daggubati Venkatesh and activist Amala Akkineni. Further, the online campaign where citizens can pledge to report crimes against children was also launched. The campaign has been named Enough is Enough. All the guests pledged to report crimes by registering on the online platform. This has to be a collective initiative from people of all walks of the society, said Anjani Kumar, CP, Hyderabad Police.
"The whole idea of this initiative is to report what is seen and to not stay silent. We can collectively create a mechanism to prevent crimes against women and children from taking place, which are largely on the rise," he said. He also said that the victims are stronger than anyone else as they gather the courage to speak up and it needs to appreciated.
A number of other city police forces have approached Bharosa to emulate the practices. This is encouraging and has pushed the Hyderabad City Police to add more services to the ones existing which include, medical, psychological, and rehabilitation services. A child friendly court to speed up the trial process was also set up in April which got seven convictions in a month's time.
Man booked for sexually assaulting step-daughter
A man was booked for “repeatedly sexually assaulting” his 13-year-old step-daughter on Monday. According to the police, the child was assaulted in the absence of her mother. Sanathnagar police booked the accused under POCSO Act and Sec 376 of IPC. “The girl in her letter described that he first asked her to have sex with him. After she denied him, he attempted to rape her. She then took the matter to her mother, who tried to settle the matter. That’s when she approached us,” said Achyuta Rao from Balala Hakkula Sangham, who took the matter to the police.
Future plans:
1. Setting up of a skill development centre for clients who come to Bharosa in the HACA Bhavan for easy accessibility in association with United Nations Development Programme.
2. To set up temporary shelter homes while the clients are resolving their problem in association with the GHMC.
3. Public service messages in the form of short films will be screened at movie theatres to encourage people to report crimes.
Services provided till date:
1. Out of the 3560 cases, 2606 are cases of domestic violence
2. 339 cases under the POCSO Act
3. 86 cases of rape
4. 528 cases of suicide attempts and similar others
5. 7 convictions under the POCSO Act sentenced from three to 10 years 6. 43 enrolled in skill development programmes
7. 37 women are employed
8. 128 women and children received service home shelters
9. Awareness programmes in schools and communities