Child Abuse Cases In Kerala: Attempts For Out-Of-Court Settlements In Malappuram District

Efforts are being made to settle three cases of child abuses in Kerala’s Malappuram district outside the court with family members of the victims allegedly colluding with the law-enforcing agencies.

Malayalam daily Manorama reported that the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), where the affected children have been provided shelter, is also not helping the victims as it has no empathy. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) government in Kerala hasn’t appointed any prosecutor to deal with child abuse cases, thus delaying hearing of the cases.

Eyebrows are being raised over the decision to re-investigate the three cases with the affected children changing their statements. However, the children were forced to give their statement in the presence of their parents, who in collusion with accused, thus denying them the required privacy to state the truth.

The three cases are just a tip of the iceberg of many of the child abuse victims being denied justice in Kerala. In an earlier case in the district, police took its own time to arrest a businessman who allegedly abused a 10-year-old girl in a movie theatre in her mother’s presence. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been accused of revealing the victim’s identify by giving out her mother’s name during a discussion on the issue in the State Assembly.

Police, lawyers, CWC officials, and even doctors, are seen hand-in-glove in Kerala to hush up the child abuse cases.