A few days ago, the brutal beating of a child by a middle-aged man in 3 Faces of Mohali has shocked every sensitive person. The only fault of a 5-year-old child from a poor family was that he imitated the barking of an Emirzade's dog. This crime neither comes under animal cruelty nor can be included in the scope of 'honour killing' of a mature person. It is surprising what is happening to educated people, officers and politicians and in a modern and civilized city like Mohali. Chandigarh and its surrounding cities and towns have a large number of educated and employed people. All of them are familiar with child protection laws to some extent. Imagine if the educated people of advanced cities have this mentality, how much safer the children of slums and slums will be.
India still ranks among developing countries. Incidents of child abuse are common in other semi-developed and developing countries like our country. Incidents of child abuse can take many forms. Incidents of physical, sexual and mental abuse of children are seen and heard. According to a survey by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), about 55% of children in our country are victims of exploitation and abuse in one way or another. Child abuse has serious physical and psychological consequences that adversely affect a child's health and brain development. It is also true that small children are not only outside but also inside their homes are victims of abuses of adults. Such children are more likely to have a personality disorder. Constantly sad, withdrawn from society and may have suicidal thoughts or violent tendencies. Sometimes the inhumane behavior leads to widespread panic, fear, depression, absenteeism from school, guilt and thoughts of suicide or other criminal activities.
Even in today's developed society, the practice of female feticide and female infanticide continues. If we talk about child labor, it is also a form of exploitation, and the number of child laborers in the world is the highest in India. Violence against children and economic injustice, dedicating small children to gods and goddesses are still seen by many Thais in our country. Even though child protection laws are made by the governments of the day and are strictly enforced, but instead of decreasing, the criminal incidents against children are increasing day by day. To some extent illiteracy, poverty and prevalence of drugs in middle class families can also be considered responsible for this. Some people's mental tendency or frustration and failure can also be the reason for this.
According to the Child Rights Act 2005, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, State Child Rights Protection Invalids and Juvenile Courts have been established to try cases of crimes against children and violation of their rights. Apart from this, many non-governmental organizations are also doing commendable work for the rights and protection of children. I would like to mention here a social activist Sunitha Krishnan. He was born in 1972 in Bangalore to Palakkad Malayali parents Raju Krishnan and Nalini Krishnan. At the age of just 8, he started teaching mentally challenged children. By the age of 12, she was running a school for poor children in the slums. Sunitha Krishnan was gang-raped by 8 men at the age of 15 while working for a neo-literacy campaign for the Dalit community. He was beaten so badly that one of his ears became partially useless. Sunita acquired a high standard of education. Today she is the CEO of a social service organization "Prajwala". and is the co-founder. In addition to many honors from countries and abroad, he has also been honored with the Padma Shri in 2016. In 2011, Ms. Krishnan was appointed as an advisor to the Kerala Government's Nirbhaya Policy for Women and Children to combat sexual violence and human trafficking.
If we accept that children are the future of our country, then it is the duty of every citizen to give us and the children around us the opportunity to grow and flourish in a safe and comfortable environment. Let's not make these tender flowers victims of violence, but give them good education, good health facilities and opportunities to play. Only then can we imagine a prosperous India.