Bharat Yatra will attempt to break the dangerous silence on child abuse: Kailash Satyarthi

“I refuse to accept that eight children go missing & two are raped every hour. Each time a child is in danger, India is in danger. I won't allow India to become a land of rapists and abusers,” Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi said, launching his nation-wide, month-long, 'Bharat Yatra', at Kanyakumari on Monday.

The crusade against child rape, abuse, slavery and rape pregnancies has been flagged off at an event here at the southern tip of the country and will pass through 22 states and march 11,000 kilometers before culminating at a grand confluence of like-minded activists, politicians and civil society in Delhi on October 16.

Satyarthi vouches for respecting children and learning from them.

Six marches will join the main march from different directions, including from Goa, Guwahati and Srinagar. Read on to know what Satyarthi has to say on the potential contributions Kerala can make to ensure the children of this world stay safe.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview with the messiah of children’s rights:

Tell us about the Bharat Yatra?

Bharath Yatra is a war on child rape, child sexual abuse and trafficking. It is not an ordinary campaign because what we are talking about is a very fast-growing moral epidemic. Millions of children might be trapped into it but it goes unreported due to social taboos, dignity, shame and fear.

Reporting is just negligible and minimal. We have to launch a war against it so that people can speak out, join in and also put pressure on the enforcement agencies to ensure that the existing laws are implemented.

Satyarthi has declared an unrelenting war on child rape, sexual abuse, trafficking and slavery through his Bharat Yatra.

We need a specific law against child trafficking or trafficking as a whole, for our country does not have a legislation on it.

Have a message for Kerala?

We will be in Kerala on September 11 night, the same day we start our campaign. After a whole day of programs on 12th, we are off to Madurai. In spite of great progress in literacy, child abuse is not rare in Kerala. In fact, it is a serious problem. I hope the Yatra will create some consciousness in Kerala society. Hindu and Muslim leaders are part of our campaign, so are NGOs.

Millions of children are trafficked each year around the world.

I hope Kerala maintains its trailblazer record; it should become the light and hope to the entire nation in spite of conventional prosperity indicators trailing. Kerala should take the lead in putting an end to child sexual abuse.

How about the recent 'spike' in crimes by and against children? Do you think it is a gimmick created using the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data or is it a reality?

The National Crime Records Bureau registered 15,000 cases in 2016. Of this, four percent were convicted, and six percent were acquitted. The rest 90 percent is dragging in the court. If you look at 2015, 96 percent cases are pending.

Even if not a single case is registered from now on, it will still take 10-40 years to dispose of the pending cases. The laws we have, POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences) and the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act are both very good laws, but enforcement and implementation are wanting.

Satyarthi with students: File Photo

What are your views on the new amendments in the JJ Act… about the provision to try minors as adults in case of heinous crimes?

Look, we worked very closely with the govt to plug that lacunae in the existing law aimed at care and protection of children. That was the most serious flaw in the earlier JJ legislation. Earlier, a juvenile could rape and kill a much younger child and walk free in three or four months. What was the fault of the little child who has been killed?

Now, in cases of heinous crimes (crimes, which attract more than seven years in punishment), the accused, even if a child, will be tried for the gravity of the crime he committed. In minor criminal cases, the accused will be send to correction homes. But in heinous crimes like rape or murder, the penal action will be mediated by the judges and others who will take a final decision. Many corrections have been made and the current legislation is a very good one.

I am all in support for the discretionary sentencing. This is not even discretionary. The law only draws a line between those children who commit minor crimes and the ones who commit bigger, more heinous crimes. Even in case of conviction, these children will not be put into jails with other criminals, but in special homes.

How would you respond to the criticism about how can a child's mentality be assessed as adult or child?

Exclusive interview with Kailash Satyarthi

No one decides it. It is assessed by child psychologists and other health professionals involved in deciding the mental maturity of the child. There are judges to support as well. There are clear and specific rules about such provisions.

How can we deal with rape pregnancies?

In a much talked about case in Chandigarh, the SC could not overstep the existing law. I am pinning my hopes on the recent judgment from the constitutional bench on the right to privacy, I hope many laws, including the one on abortions, will be amended in the same spirit.

(To be continued tomorrow)