Save children from child abusers

by Justice P.H.K. Kulatilaka

Wake up, protect your precious children from rapists and abusers.

This article is essentially and conceptually socio-legal and evidence based one made out with a view to bring out the true picture of the incidence of child rape and grave child abuse in Sri Lanka. If these anti - social happenings are ignored with a cynical sneer you are evading a menace which would ultimately destroy the entire social strata.

As I started writing this article my mind was reminiscent of an article I read in the Readers Digest of June 2009 titled 'Pitcairn, Paradise Lost 'written by Kathy Marks. Pitcairn Island was once seen as a paradise in the South Pacific.

But later it was found that the island hid some very dark secrets, a shocking trail of child abuse dating back to generations. In 1958 a community constable who investigated into the crime scene in the island remarked 'You won't get a girl reaching the age of 12 years still a virgin, scarcely a girl had escaped unmolested. Almost every man allegedly had been an offender'.

One of the girls who had been ravished had this to say when she was asked why she did not complain to her parents 'that is the way of life in Pitcairn. You get abused, you get raped. Everybody in the outside world thinks Pitcairn Island is a paradise. But it was sheer hell back home when I was growing up'.

It is not my intention to draw a comparison of the aforesaid crime scenario in Pitcairn which is a sparsely populated country with that of Sri Lanka. My endeavour is to give a warning of an impending danger.

Crime statistics

To highlight the incidence and continuous upward trend in child rape and grave sexual abuse crime over the years the statistics available with the police bear testimony. For 2007 police had received complaints relating to 805 child rape cases, 605 cases of sexual abuse of children. In 2008 child rape cases rose up to 914 and 613 grave sexual abuse cases of children. In 2009 child rape cases went up to 922 and 605 cases of child abuse.

The year 2010 recorded complaints relating to 1089 child rape cases and 653 grave sexual abuse cases. For 2011 complaints of child rape ran up to 1159 and 675 grave sexual abuse cases. For 2012 child rape case rose up to 1808 and 612 grave sexual abuse cases. In 1213 police had received complaints relating to 1722 child rape and 811 grave sexual abuse cases of children. For the period between January to June 2014, the National Child Protection Authority [NCPA] had reported 228 cases of child rape and 259 cases of grave sexual cases of children.

It is shocking to hear of extremely gruesome incidents where the crime doer had murdered the victim after ravishing her. The NCPA, the Police Department, Probation and Child Care Department and Ministry of Justice have publicly acknowledged that the aforesaid data do indicate a high incidence of child rape and grave child abuse cases in Sri Lanka.

Conscience

What shocks my conscience is that this rising trend in the incidence of child rape and grave sexual abuse is continuing despite the introduction of the Penal Code [Amendment] Act, No. 22 of 1995 which permitted the trial judges to impose heavy sentences.

Many incidents of this crime go unreported and undetected. The social stigma that befalls on the hapless victim and her family, fear of reprisals from the crime doer, cover ups by the family to protect the reputation of the family where the abuser is in the family itself, cases of domestic servants raped by the master, scare to face secondary victimisation and further ordeal during police investigation and the frustrating long waiting period pending trial are some vital factors why many incidents go unreported and undetected. Hence crime statistics are referred to as 'dark figures'.

Horror in Tangalle

It was in this backdrop that the media gave wide publicity to the Tangalle child gang rape incident. The whole country was shocked by this news item. When the President heard about it when he visited a temple at Tangalle he was visibly of disturbed mind and lamented' a section of the society is ill. If this state of affairs continues all the development work will come to naught'. No doubt this pronouncement was a prophetic one.

Why this upward trend?

In a country blessed by four great religions namely, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam crime scenario as portrayed by the aforesaid statistics is unbelievable and putrefying. Things happen to be not that clear. It is rather intriguing.

To be continued