Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Protect child rights, jury tells Govt.

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI March 28. The jury has decreed: ``Tamil Nadu today will stand out as one of the worst state for human rights violations against children''.

The eight-member jury who heard 60 depositions at a public hearing on `all forms of torture, degrading treatment and sexual abuse of children yesterday put together their interim report today. Recognising the role of the State in the continuous violation of children rights, the jury listed out a set of recommendations for the Government to implement.

The main recommendation is enactment of a comprehensive legislation for child justice, incorporating into it, the rights of the child upheld in the constitution, the UN Child Rights Convention and the Convention against Torture. Jury members also recommended that the Criminal Procedure Code be amended, with provisions for protecting the victims' rights.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu has been urged to identify and recognise the areas, where children have been systematically tortured and sexually abused. Prompt steps have to be taken to give protection and support systems for all children. The approach should be comprehensive, handling the issue from different perspectives, including education, nutrition, health, labour, the members of the jury added.

``No child shall be subject to any form of sexual abuse or other inhuman treatment and the State shall take all steps, forthwith'', they emphasised, in a statement. In an appeal to the public, the members said ``The horror of this scenario must rouse the rage of court and community ''. More than 60 children, or their representatives from around 15 districts in the State, narrated their traumatic experiences of abuse, torture, illegal detention, even murder.

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