THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The arrest of a sexagenarian accused of abusing boys and girls of Vellanad Upper Primary School could have been effected a lot early. What stood in the way of an early arrest was not police incompetence or political interference but a deep fear of social ostracism by parents and teachers.The guardians were eager to keep the whole affair under wraps. Parents, understandably, were worried about the future of their children and teachers who were in the know did not want to sully the name of the School. Such fear and helplessness on the part of parents and teachers once again underlines the need for a humane mechanism to prevent child abuse, the incidents of which are showing an alarming rise in recent years.In the Vellanad case, the silence of the School handicapped the local police. ‘’We had been receiving complaints from locals that the shopkeeper was hurting children. Even posters started appearing in the area. But since there was no official complaint from the the School, or from any of the parents, we couldn’t take any concrete action,’’ a police source told City Express. Even then, ‘mufti’ policemen were posted to verify the activities of the shopkeeper. Nothing concrete could be gathered. It was counsellors from Childline who finally convinced the parents and teachers to register a complaint with the Aryanad Police Station. ‘’Our counsellors met teachers, students and parents and tried to impress upon them the need to initiate legal proceedings so that the culprit could be arrested. We told them if no action is taken, paedophiles like the one who abused their children will view this as a sort of encouragement,’’ said Fr Philip Parakkatt, director of Don Bosco Veedu Society, the Childline Call Centre in the capital city. The counsellors also assured the parents that the name and other personal details of the children will be withheld.Within 24 hours of receiving the written complaint, a police team led by Aryanad Sub-Inspector Rajendran Nair nabbed the accused, 61-year-old Prabhakaran Pillai. Police sources said Prabhakaran had shut his shop and went into hiding just when he realised that he was under the police scanner. ‘’We still don’t know how many children had been his victims. We also don’t know for how long he had been abusing them. Only a police investigation can expose the depth of the crime,’’ Fr Parakkatt said. But what he does know is that Prabhakaran’s arrest could act as a deterrent.The charge against Prabhakaran is that he lured boys and girls into his stationery shop, screened pornographic films and then took advantage of them sexually. Locals in the area allege that Prabhakaran had been indulging in this criminal behaviour for at least three years.Fr Parakkatt wants preventive strategies to be put in place. One such strategy was the setting up of a ‘help desk’ for government and government-aided schools; a joint initiative of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mahila Samakhya Society. Parents, teachers, students or anyone concerned can call the help desk whenever a problem is spotted. Presently, the help desk has been set up for 1,572 schools. (The Vellanad UPS will be covered only in the second phase.)‘’We have had nearly 150 calls and more than 100 children are being rehabilitated,’’ says Mahila Samakhya Society project director Seema Bhaskar. Still, teachers who blow the whistle are victimised by others in the school. No wonder, the two-day training given by SSA as part of the setting up of the help desk focuses mainly on shoring up the willpower and mental strength of teachers.
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