Innocent children and vicious abusers

by Justice P.H.K. Kulatilaka

[Part 2]

Because they are of tender years the child victims are unable to put up a fight or any resistance. In some incidents they are so young that they don't understand what the perpetrator was up to. This leads to gross disempowerment of the child to her being subjected to rape, grave sexual abuse or sexual abuse.

Natural family

If the attacker was a member of the natural family or extended family she would have been disturbed by a guilty feeling or a 'fear and shame' feeling creeping into her innocent mind. She was too scared to raise cries and would have suffered in silence and the assault would have resulted in mental defilement of the child. Albeit, a dark shadow fell on her never to be erased off from her mind. The offenders in this group will go scot free because such offences go unreported and undetected.

High Court of Avissawella, Case No.149/04 was a case where a child of 11 years, a year six student was abducted and ravished by her maternal uncle. The unsuspecting child was accosted in a three-wheeler promising that he would drop her at the school. Instead he took her to a closed house owned by her maternal aunt [a sister of the accused] and ravished her.

After the crime act she was made to swear before a picture of goddess Saraswathi to keep it a secret and threatened to kill her and her father if she complained about the crime.

She kept it a secret for two long years. But while viewing a crime based teledrama Angili Salakunu she broke down and confessed to the father of the crime committed on her by her maternal uncle. Eventually the latter had reported it to the Police. The offender was indicted with abduction and child rape. There had been out of court negotiations. The accused had pleaded guilty to the charge. Taking into consideration the attendant circumstances of the case a reasonable sentence had been passed on the accused.

Joy ride

A Sunday Sinhala newspaper of July 29, 2014 had narrated in detail the sad plight of a young school girl studying for her A-levels Examination whose sorry tale should have a telling effect on all mothers having school going children. She came from a middle class family.

Her father was employed abroad, elder brother and sister were University students. Mother too was employed. Most of the time this child who was in her adolescence was left alone in the house. On her way to school she befriended with a motorcyclist who had come in the guise of a good Samaritan. She was ignorant of the fact that he was a 'lie in wait' man who had found out that hers was too good an opportunity to pass up.

She did not know that the guy was a married man with children. He used to drop her at school. Very soon they became lovers. When she was alone at home they used to have sex. One day he took her in a three wheeler to an old bungalow. The sole occupant was an elderly man. She could remember that man giving her alleged 'fiancé' some currency notes. Then the latter had kept the helpless girl with the elderly man and left.

She could remember her being seized by the old man to a room. She had fainted and when she gained consciousness she found herself lying on a bed with the old man lying beside her. There was no one to save her from the worst fate that befell on her.

That was the end of her schooling. These facts had been obtained from NCPA who had sent the girl for rehabilitation. It is frightening to imagine the brutality of the crimes the poor girl had been subjected to at different times by the two brutes. The offenders had been apprehended and produced before court and court cases are pending. This was a case where her mother had totally neglected her daughter. Morally such mothers were guilty of being partners in crime.

Pivotal role

In my previous article 'Save children from child abusers' I have highlighted the pivotal role a mother has to play in bringing up her children. The Buddha in explaining the phrase 'loving kindnesses used the simile' just as a mother would protect her only child'. A mother's love for her child is the unit. The duty cast on her starts with the bringing forth and runs until the bringing up is over. This is good parenting. [Please see the chapter on 'Mother and child' in Bhikkhu K. Nanananda's book 'From Topsy- turvydom to Wisdom'].

Attitudes and beliefs prevalent in our society are not different from those of the Asian societies, to wit;

'Never mind', 'mind your own business',

'Why should we bothered', or 'why should we burn our fingers'. This mindset and attitudes prevalent in society, rationale being family privacy and harmony inure to the perpetrator's advantage enabling him to flee the crime scene scot free. If the perpetrator was a member of the natural family he knew that the rest of the family daren't risk the family reputation by going at him.

The moral laxity referred to above adds to the 'Don't care a damn' attitude of the predators of sexual abuse. His position, political connections, monetary gain that would accrue to him by selling the victim by changing hands enable the crime doer to escape from the claws of the law.

A Sunday English newspaper of May 5, 2013 carried a shocking news item of a case where a 15-year-old schoolgirl attending an International school in the Colombo suburbs had been ravished and sold to an Afghan tourist for Rs. 2,000 at a night club. On a complaint lodged by her parents the alleged offenders had been arrested and produced before the Mt. Lavinia Magistrate's Court. [As reported by the above paper].

Sight-seeing

Kalutara North Police by report B.R. 2127/2014 filed in the Magistrate's Court of Kalutara reported to court a horrific gang raping of two 14 year old schoolgirls studying at a school in Horana on the July 27, 2014. The offence had been committed by a gang at a beach resort in Kalutara. The two girls had come to school in their school uniform and once the school was over they had changed their clothes and gone to the Panadura beach for sight-seeing. From there they had walked along the beach towards Kalutara North and it was getting late.

While loitering along the beach they were picked up by the suspects and were carried to a beach resort in a three wheeler. It is alleged that the two children were ravished the whole night. The following day in the morning they were dropped at the Kalutara beach. On receiving a telephone call the police had rushed to the beach and took the two girls into their custody. They were absolutely exhausted. So far nine suspects have been arrested and produced before Court. The case is pending.

Sad thing is that the attendant circumstances are such that the success story in this type of cases is zero. What drives these vultures to prey upon these innocent children need to be closely studied and scrutinised.

These criminals are risk takers. They are well aware that even if they were apprehended and brought before court the relaxed approach at the investigation stage and cumbersome legal procedures would often inure to their advantage.

The writer is a former Director of the Sri Lanka Judges Institute.