Primary duty of officers is to protect rights of children, says Children’s commission chairman

Shashidhar Kosambe, chairman of the Karnataka State Commission for the Protection of Children’s Rights, inspected the Special Police Unit for Children and held a meeting with officers in Belagavi on Friday.

He directed officers to immediately install an information board including the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the ex-officio officers and the children’s helpline number 1098 at a prominent place in the unit. He asked them to check the records of the Registrar of Children’s Cases and the Open House Programme regularly and to manage them properly.

Mr. Kosambe directed the officers to report cases related to child abduction cases, POCSO cases, and child marriage cases, in a timely manner to the authorities, including the commission.

Earlier, Mr. Kosambe held a meeting of officers in the Deputy Commissioner’s office. He asked them to realise that their primary duty was to protect the rights of children at all costs, without worrying about procedural formalities. The officers of all the department concerned should work in coordination towards this. There is no need to clarify again that no time should be wasted in registering any cases related to children or children in conflict with law, and investigation should begin immediately. All serious cases like abduction, POCSO, child marriage, harassment or violence, child labour and others should be handled on priority.

“It is mandatory for any person, parent or school staff who has information about sexual abuse against children to report it to the police station. It is mandatory to register a POCSO case, and if there is any delay, action can be taken against those responsible. The POCSO cases should be charge-sheeted in 120 days,” he said.

He asked Vijay Kumar H., Additional DC, to issue notices to officers about the delay in five such cases. He expressed concern about delay in investigation into child missing cases and children dying in road accidents.

“All schools and hostels in the district should provide a safe environment for children by providing protection from any kind of violence, abuse and exploitation. A child rights protection committee should be formed in every school and hostel. Complaint boxes should be installed mandatorily. They should be checked regularly and action should be taken. Personal information of abused children and complaints about them should be kept confidential. Awareness should be created against child trafficking, child labour and child marriage,” he said.

He directed officers should work proactively to eliminate maternal mortality, infant mortality and malnutrition in the district.