Child abuse: NCPCR mulls using sketches as evidence

New Delhi: In order to create awareness among the society about the child abuse, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) have come up with a user handbook. Regressive behaviour such as bed wetting, thumb sucking, and if the child starts paying too much or too little attention to his or her appearance can be the sign of sexual abuse, as per the handbook.

The child rights body is also working on the direction that sketches of the child which relates to some abuse should be used as an evidence in abuse cases. In future, they may hold a meeting with stakeholders including police on taking children sketches as evidence.

The book named "User Handbook for Implementation of the POCSO Act" a copy of which is with the Millennium Post have highlighted the symptoms of sexual abuse and also about supportive and unsupportive behaviour on child victims. Some symptoms were fatigue and sleeping difficulties, poor attendance of the child in school, sudden accumulation of money or gifts, unexpected behavioural changes in a child such as withdrawal or unjustified or inappropriate aggression and sudden dislikes from certain specific people or places where she was comfortable with earlier.

With the symptoms, the child rights body has also come up with the do's and dont's. In the case of child abuse, the commission think that parental attention is required. "A child who had faced the abuse had to be listened properly; and instead of blaming the child tell the minor that he or she is brave and also boost the confidence," said the commission. The child complaints should not be ignored and never send the child with a person or to a place where the kid is uncomfortable.

Recently, NCPCR found that child who is the victim of abuse cannot report it due to some problems but sometimes through sketches, they draw the situation in which the abuse happened and it can help police as well as the commission in the investigation of the case. Yashwant Jain, NCPCR member, stated that they were taking every step to curb child abuse.''We are working on the direction to create an environment where children can live happy without any fear,"

said Jain.