Child abuse-a crime that requires death penalty

by Nadira GUNATILLEKE

Do you still remember your childhood ? I still remember my childhood. It was one sweet dream that I do not want to forget. I still remember how I was cared, protected and nurtured by my mom, dad and my aunts (mothers younger sisters). Playing with cousins was my favourite pastine during festive seasons and school vacations.

There were no dark shadows over me at all. I was a safe and free bird. I knew nothing about fear and pain.

But it was not so when it comes to Samanmalee (not her real name), a 13 year old girl from my neighbourhood. The dark shadow which gave her fear and pain every night does not belong to a stranger. It was her own father's. A night was a long year for her with pure torture.

Today she plays with a toddler. But it is not her younger brother, a child from her neighbourhood or her relative. The toddler is her own child...fathered by her own father !. How anyone can explain the relationship between the baby and its father ? The child calls mother to another kid (she is just 13) and both kids call one man their father ! But unfortunately it is true and it is not one isolated incident in Sri Lanka. It is still happening here and there.

According to the Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) there is a new trend in present day society. That is using children as a tool to get divorces. There were instances where one parent (most of the time it was the wife) who used her own child to accuse her husband for abusing the child in order to get the custody of the child and also properties after the divorce. To do this, most of them teach the child to lie and fabricate an accusation against the father. There was one instance where the mother herself sexually abused (inserting a sharp fingernail to the child's Vagina)the child and put blood patches on her school uniform to prove that her father sexually abused her. T

Expressing some views during a recent workshop organised by the NCPA for media personnel, it was said that it is very sad to see that majority of such parents belong to well educated high class section of the society. Some parents have all the time to listen to everyone else but not to their own children.

Some children are engaged in prostitution. There are children who offer sex for the driver of his/her own home or three-wheel drivers and get money to throw parties. What some teachers do is giving publicity as much as possible whenever they find out love affairs of children. This is something very negative.

More and more children are getting addicted to Cannabis. Some schoolchildren snatch money by force from others during school hours and also in tuition classes. Some prostitutes attend private tuition classes just to get male student clients. It was heartbreaking to read a list of complaints written down by a female child who ran away from her home located in Colombo 7. About 50 percent of the complaints received by the NCPA related to sexual abuse and only around 2 percent of abusers are strangers. All the others are fathers, brothers or close family relations, it was pointed out.

Some mothers ignore child abuse in order to gain social status and other benefits. For instance some mothers know very well that their children are being abused by some coaches but they purposely ignore it because they do not want to lose the social status, fame and popularity they can gain through the children once they excel in sports. It will be too late to find a solution if such a person is HIV positive !

It is curiosity which encourages children to watch porn. The CD dealer says `See there is a kid from your school in this film. So take it and watch it". The innocent and inexperienced child becomes very curious to see his/her fellow student acting in the movie and goes for the CD or DVD. They get addicted to it gradually, it was added.According to Additional Solicitor General Palitha Fernando the present law has created a transit period for the children who are between the age of 16 and 18. The problems which arise because of this transit period have a greater impact on female children than male children. Under the present law, a girl child over the age of 16 can go away from her home and lead a life of her own. This has created many problems in the present day society. The girl children who belong to the families which mothers had gone abroad as housemaids get abused by their fathers. This is another serious problem we face today, he added.

During the same workshop Attorney-At-Law Harshana Nanayakkara said that a research had revealed that children are being given away for money to adults to use as prostitutes by certain workers attached to Homes who have the custody of the children and they practice this as a habit every time they transport children to distant areas to produce them before Courts located in outstations.

Usually it takes a day to transport such children but usually such persons take two to three days for this purpose in order to sell the children to `clients'. This is a good business for such officers.There is one Children's home in the city and a large number of children run away from this home regularly. There should be a reason for that because no one can say that there is something wrong with all the children who are in this home and all the children who are being brought to this home from time to time. This is impossible. Therefore there should be a good reason for innocent and helpless children to run away from this specific home, he added.

According to a Senior Lecturer, University of Colombo, Sarath Wijesuriya at present sometimes discipline of schools is being looked after by a teacher who is alcoholic / a person who suffers from some type of mental problem or a person with abnormal qualities. Some teachers are taking revenge from students for the sufferings they face at their homes. Some mothers take their children to tuition classes at 5.00 am in the morning !

Do not let anyone abuse any child in Sri Lanka. Do not keep your mouth shut and turn a blind eye. Do not let it go. Your heart will never forgive you for ever. Love your motherland and love our future generation. Protect the purity of a flower bud to be bloomed in Sri Lanka making our country more beautiful and fragrant. You do not need to expose yourself or put yourself in danger in order to save a child.

You can do it by just giving an anonymous phone call or by letter. The telephone number is 0112778911 - 13, email [email protected] Postal address No.330, Thalawathugoda Road, Madiwela, Sri Jayawardanapura.