Children hit streets to find ‘samadhan’ from sexual abuse in Delhi

The march to raise awareness about increasing cases of child sexual abuse was organised by not-for-profit organisation, Samadhan.

New Delhi, June 11: As the cases related to child sexual abuse have increased in the country in the recent times, children of Delhi on Sunday hit the streets demanding to curb the menace.

The march to raise awareness against increasing cases of child sexual abuse was organised by not-for-profit organisation, Samadhan, reported ANI. Children along with adults held a silent protest in the national capital on the horrific incidents of children falling prey to sexual abuse. A large number of victims of sexual abuse have also been killed by the culprits, as reports from across the country suggest.

"March raising awareness about increasing cases of child abuse held on the streets of #Delhi by Non-Governmental Organisation 'Samadhan' yesterday," tweeted ANI.

According to the latest government figures, in India, a child is sexually abused every 15 minutes. According to the report on crimes in India for 2016, released by Union home minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi in December 2017, 106,958 cases of crimes against children were recorded in 2016.

"Of these, 36,022 cases were recorded under Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act," he added.

Talking about the awareness programme, a member of Samadhan said, "Children are more vulnerable to sexual abuse than adults. They are the easy targets of the culprits. Not only children are defenceless but they have little understanding about sexual abuse. We need to protect our children from predators and punish the culprits at the earliest to send a strong message that enough is enough."

Admitting that it is not always easy to make children understand what is a "good or a bad touch", the member of Samadhan said that it is pertinent that children should be told that abuse is rampant and they need to speak up.

In the last few months, cases of rapes of minor girls have been reported from almost every corner of the country with mind-boggling frequency. Angry citizens of the country protested on roads in various parts of the country over the horrific rape cases reported from Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua and Uttar Pradesh's Unnao in April.

Both the cases caught the attention of the nation because of its barbarity and open support for the accused from a section of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). After its "studied silence" over crimes against women, especially minor girls, the Narendra Modi government approved the ordinance to allow courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping girls under 12 in April.