The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Attack on minors, a major shock

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Friday, Dec 03, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Attack on minors, a major shock

A reminder on the efforts needed to prevent recurrence of such
incidents, says
V.S. Palaniappan

The recent incident of kidnapping of siblings, sexual assault on one of them and their murder by a van driver shattered the family and left the public in Coimbatore shocked.

Stung by the incident, police have initiated a series of steps to prevent the recurrence of such crimes.

In Coimbatore city, between five and seven cases of child abuse have been reported since 2006, says City Police Commissioner C. Sylendra Babu. The cases have been classified as murder, rape and molestation. A comparison of the number of cases reported with that of the cases under trial or pending trial show that the rate of conviction has been really on the higher side. Police feel that lighter or less stringent sentences will not help deter offenders.

Thirteen cases of child rape, eight incidents of molestation and three cases of murders have been reported in the last five years till October 30. Mostly, persons known to the families have been involved in rape cases. One was a cousin, another a tuition teacher and the third a boyfriend enticing a girl to rape. In yet another incident of gang rape, migrant workers from the North were involved.

In the other cases, neighbours were involved. Which means, parents should be cautious about children mingling with neighbours and strangers whose character is not known. Parents should educate their wards on the need to inform them on abnormal behaviour by neighbours.

In the eight cases of molestation, all the seven accused were neighbours and, in one case, the accused was the husband of the tuition teacher.

Inspector General of Police – West Zone P. Sivanandi said three recent incidents related to rape/sexual assault on minor girls. In one incident, the accused Michael Ezhil Nirmal (20) allegedly raped a nine-year-old and tried to kill her in Kottur police limits of Pollachi. Rape was attempted on a 13-year-old girl by Arumugam, a 59-year-old. Ramesh Kumar (22) is accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl.

The accused in all the three cases, reported in Pollachi, have been secured. Police admit that they have a crucial role in preventing abductions for ransom or sexual abuse but in cases of pervert neighbours, parents should exercise extra caution.

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