[ Indu Chukhu ]
ITANAGAR, 30 Jan: In the wake of the 19 January case involving multiple sexual assaults on two minor girls by four men, including an IRBn constable, the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (APSCPCR) has called a meeting with the Naharlagun Railway Police Force (RPF) sub-inspector.
APSCPCR Chairperson Ratan Anya informed this daily that she has spoken to SI Sunny Bhusen Rai of the RPF, “and the railway officials have agreed to meet the commission on 2 February.”
The meeting will focus primarily on setting up a child helpline at the railway station, based on the directive issued by the union women & child development (WCD) ministry, she said.
On 1 February, members of the commission, led by Anya, will meet the parents/guardians of the two minor girls, “in order to learn about whether the girls require any professional and psychological assistance,” she said.
“The APSCPCR will soon be writing to the education commissioner to direct all the DDSEs to strictly educate the students on ‘good touch and bad touch, and stranger danger’, and to apprise the children of the 1098 helpline number,” Anya said.
Union WCD Ministry Joint Secretary Indra Mallo had on 31 March, 2023 issued the revised standard operating procedures (SOP) of the RPF director general “to ensure care and protection of children in contact with the Indian Railways,” Anya said.
Among other things, the SOPs state that “a child below 18 years of age requires care and protection, as amended in 2021, for children who are found travelling alone, working, or in conflict with the law, in any part of the railway premises, or in train or railway vehicles,” she said.
The WCD ministry’s SOPs also contain instruction for setting up a child helpdesk/booth at the railway stations “which should be operationalised 24/7, and the Railways should also provide a space of 6×6 square feet free of cost for setting up helpdesks in all the states and union territories.”
The APSCPCR opined that the 19 January case could have been prevented if the railway station had a child helpdesk in place.
Meanwhile, members of the APSCPCR on 18 January visited the Govt Primary School in Papu-II and taught the students there about ‘good touch and bad touch, and stranger danger’, it said.
Meanwhile, the APSCPCR commended the prompt action taken by the Itanagar police, led by SP Rohit Rajbir Singh, in the case.
The commission has also invited the parents of the minor girls to inform them about the Arunachal Pradesh Victim Compensation Scheme, under which a victim gets compensation amounts of Rs 8 to 10 lakhs.