Activist Offers Surprising Solutions To Help Abused Children

An activist who has long advocated for child rights tells Brut India why she doesn't think that death penalty for rapists is the answer.

Transcript

00:00We've had about 20% of our children who had to shift their residence after the incident.

00:0826% who had to move out of their school.

00:11They were either pushed out of school or had to move there.

00:30Since we work with a lot of children and their families, children who are sexually abused

00:45and their families, we know for sure that there are all kinds of fears that they live

00:51with which have to be addressed first.

00:54Death penalty is not the first thing that comes to people's minds.

00:58They don't want the policeman to be asking all kinds of ridiculous questions before registering the FIR.

01:04They don't want to be in the police station for hours and at the end of 12 hours you're told

01:12Kho gaya jao and you don't even get a copy of your FIR.

01:15They don't want doctors to be telling them don't get your medical examination done.

01:19It can ruin your reputation.

01:21They don't want landlords to tell them you please leave because the police is coming

01:27to the house every day in and day out and we don't like it.

01:30So they want those basics corrected.

01:34The testimony starts after six months in some good cases but most cases it takes longer than that.

01:42In the cases that we've been dealing with, about 126 cases.

01:49In only 11% we managed to get the testimony recorded within 30 days as given in the law.

02:10It is nothing but giving something as a lollipop to people who wanted a quick fix solution.

02:18Nothing else.

02:19There's such a disconnect in the problem you've identified and the response you're seeking.

02:24When you're mad, when it's madness of that kind because rapes are a reflection of the society,

02:32of yourself as much.

02:35You just look for something that will satisfy you and that's how I think people reacted.

02:41But what happened to the government?

02:44Government is supposed to be thinking.

02:47You don't have to follow what the mob says.

02:50We've seen that in some of the cases where the accused has had this fear of being caught

02:58that he's gotten rid of the evidence.

03:00Somebody who fears death would definitely not want it by any means.

03:08And it's only logical to think that they will get rid of the evidence, which is the child.