Hyderabad: More and more cases of sexual abuse among school going children in the city are surfacing. Cases are not limited to government schools as some of them are reported in private schools too.
According to a report published in DC, 86 cases of sexual abuse of children were reported between April 2021 and March 2022. From April 2022 to September 2022, 43 sexual abuse cases were reported. The highest number of cases were reported in government schools in Hyderabad. However, a few cases were also reported in private schools.
The report highlighted a surprising fact that boys are also becoming the victims of sexual abuse in city schools. However, due to society’s mindset, they are hardly able to speak up about their ordeal.
NGO Divya Disha’s worker Naga Madhu has been quoted saying that 4-6 girls who were sexually abused by their teacher in a government school in Secunderabad were rescued in a month.
As per Divya Disha director Isidore Phillips, both male and female teachers are committing crimes. However, the cases of male teachers abusing female students are higher in number, he added.
How schools in Hyderabad respond to such complaints
Most of the schools try to hush up the crime by either blaming the victim or refusing to accept that such an incident took place. In some cases, school management suspends the teacher who is accused of sexual abuse.
It is also reported that some of the schools try to blackmail students and parents from low-income groups or even offer bribes as a part of the negotiation.
POCSO: Law to protect children from sexual offenses
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was enacted in 2012 to protect children aged below 18 years from various sexual offenses.
Under the act, any person aged below 18 years irrespective of gender is a child. The act broadly classified sexual offenses against the child into five.
- Penetrative sexual assault
- Aggregative penetrative sexual assault
- Sexual assault
- Aggregative sexual assault
- Sexual harassment
The minimum punishment for penetrative sexual assault under POCSO Act is 10 years in jail if the offense is committed against a girl aged between 16-18 years.
In the case of aggregative penetrative sexual assault, the minimum punishment under the act is 20 years.
As per the act, the person who commits sexual assault on a child is punished with imprisonment of not less than three years whereas, the minimum punishment for the accused of aggregative sexual assault is five years.
In case of sexual harassment, the accused is sent to jail for a term that may extend to three years.
The sections of the act also apply to the accused who uses a child for pornographic purpose.
