CHENNAI: There was an alarming trend in which officials attached to the Child Welfare Committee, shelter homes, and similar institutions were allegedly insisting that children make sexual abuse allegations against their fathers, observed the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court.
Justice KK Ramakrishnan noted that in many cases, the children might be approaching these authorities only to ventilate their grievances relating to the domestic discord happening between their parents. However, instead of addressing the issue appropriately, the officials were compelling them to make sexual misconduct accusations against their own family members.
"While perusing the statement of the victim, this court painfully notices an alarming trend in certain cases involving allegations against fathers, wherein some officials attached to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), shelter homes, or even police personnel appear to insist upon or induce the child victims to make allegations of sexual abuse against their fathers," the judge noted.
The court added that the objective of child helpline mechanism was to protect a distressed child with immediate assistance, and it could not be misused in a manner causing further mental trauma to the child.
The directions were issued in a bail petition filed by a father accused under the Pocso Act and was arrested on April 16. He told the court that he had only scolded his daughter for continuously using her phone, leading to frequent quarrels with his wife. He alleged that after the child contacted the 1098 helpline, officials insisted on lodging a false complaint against him.
Perusing the child's statement, the court noted that the girl stated that the official who attended the call insisted she complain that her father had subjected her to "bad touch". The court also noted that she was kept in a shelter home for five days and allegedly pressured by CWC officials to file a complaint against her father.
Considering her statement and the father's incarceration, the court granted bail. It also directed the IG (South Zone) to hold an inquiry against the officials and ordered the Virudhunagar Collector to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation to the child for the mental trauma.
The court also directed the Chief Secretary to formulate suitable guidelines to all authorities dealing with children, including officials responding to complaints received through 1098 helpline, officials attached to the CWC, shelter homes, and police personnel, directing them to record statements of children in a fair and transparent manner without inducing, tutoring, or coercing them to make false allegations against any person, including family members.