MALAPPURAM:The records available with the Child Welfare Committees in the district are proving that almost 70 percent of the accused in the paedophile cases were victims of similar crimes in their childhood. District Child Protection Committee is planning to implement a scheme based on corrective measures to bring down the cases.
District Probation Officer Sameer Machingal said that a long-term plan is needed to bring down paedophile cases in the state. There are chances that the victims in the present time can become abusers in future. The mental trauma and agony may change their sexual orientation also.
“The shocking fact about child abuses cases is that almost 70 per cent of the victims would repeat the same crime they suffered in childhood. We have to correct these persons through psychological methods to bring down the cases in the future. The majority of the accused in paedophile cases have confessed that they have suffered physical, sexual and mental abuse in childhood. There are many social factors behind this factor. We have to correct these persons with such background to protect the children,” Sameer Machingal, the probation officer said.
The child protection committees constituted in every district in the state have now started efforts to identify the vulnerable children and families in each district. The vulnerability mapping will help identify the families and persons inclined to such crimes. Grass-root level network of child protection agencies is needed to implement it and the efforts are
on to form the protection units even in the local body level. “There are three types of incidents in which children become victims of circumstances. Child marriage, sexual abuse and crime involved by the children are the major concerns of worry. The vulnerability mapping will help the officials identify such children and take remedial action,” Sameer Machingal added.
It will take time to generate some results through these projects. The joint action by local body representatives, child protection units and police are needed for an immediate change in the issue.