Not everything, it seems, is hunky-dory in Kerala these days. Sexual crimes in the state are increasingly getting murkier and obnoxious. Take the case of a 12-year-old boy who became the father of a child, after having sexual intercourse with his 17-year-old cousin. The girl's parents apparently didn’t know that she was pregnant, and she gave birth to a baby girl at a private hospital in Kalamassery in Kochi a few months ago.
The hospital authorities informed the police, who conducted a DNA test that confirmed that the young boy was indeed the baby’s father. The police have registered a case against the cousins, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences act. Apparently, they are children of daily wage labourers who lived in the same house after the girl and her mother were dumped by her father. There is a legal confusion on who is more to blame, as both the accused are minors. The boy has said the girl had taken the lead in the relationship, while the girl has said the boy is to be blamed. The newborn has been handed over to the child welfare committee, after the girl’s family refused to take care of the child.
Said Biji Manikoth, a lawyer who practises in the Kerala High Court: “Both the girl and the boy have committed offences under the POCSO act. In this case, no compliant is required. The police can register a FIR on the basis of information. Both of them will be prosecuted by the juvenile justice board, where they will get counselling.” He said that the boy would not be prosecuted if he was sexually abused by the girl. “But this can be inferred only from the statement of the boy,” said Manikoth.
Can a 12-year-old boy father a child? Doctors say that even though boys normally attain puberty when they are 12 to 16 years old, in some cases puberty can occur as early as age 9. This is known as precocious puberty.
There has been a sharp rise in crimes against children and women in Kerala, a state considered progressive with its high literacy state and matriarchal traditions of the past. In most cases, children were the victims. Last month, a 48-year-old priest was arrested for raping and impregnating a 16-year-old girl at a local parish in Kottiyoor, Kannur. Once the priest came to know about the pregnancy, he reportedly threatened the girl and her family with dire consequences if they named him. Horror of all horrors, he instructed the victim and her family to falsely state that the girl's own father was the father of her child. On being questioned by the police, the victim and her parents opened up and stated that the priest, who is a highly influential figure in the church, had offered money for the father to own up the crime. The girl was raped in May last year while she was a part-time worker at the computer centre in the parish. The priest was also the manager of the school where she studied. A DNA test has confirmed that the priest is the father of the baby. The police have filed a case against eight people, including two nuns, for trying to cover up the issue.
The local bishop wrote a letter of apology to the girl and her family. Said Jose Porunnedom of the Mananthavady archdiocese, “The Lord will help you come out of this. I am praying and keeping all this before the Lord. This is something that should have never happened.” Porunnedom called upon members of the church to remain strong in their faith. Veteran Congress leader A.K. Antony said that the priest should be dealt with like a criminal.
Arrests often do not matter. Of 2,093 child abuse cases in 2016 in Kerala, only 387 cases were presented before courts and 34 people were convicted. In most of these cases, sadly, the culprit was an adult relative. In one of the most recent cases, a 10-year-old girl in Kundara in Kollam killed herself in January after she was raped and tortured allegedly by her maternal grandfather for over a year. The girl's father, who was away from home for over a year, said his father-in-law had murdered his daughter. The grandfather has been arrested. Said S. Surendran, superintendent of police, Kollam rural, "We have charged him under various sections of the POCSO act. His wife, that is the grandmother of the child, has also been arrested for hiding the truth from the police. We will make sure that the culprit in this case gets the harshest punishment."
The psychological effects of sexual harassment of young children are highly complex. Said Dr Harsha H., a psychiatrist in Kannur, Kerala, “Our fast-paced life doesn’t give us time to understand the subtle changes in a child’s behaviour. We mistake those signs as shyness or stubbornness. We mistake our children’s overt pleas for help thinking they are too young to understand what is a good and a bad touch. Often, parents reject their child’s initial plea for help and the child does not go to them for help again because of fear, shame and guilt.”
The victims should be empowered to assert themselves, says filmmaker Anjali Menon. “Also, empathising with children matters. The minute empathy comes, such oppressions take a backseat. We don’t have to place one gender over another. We should question perceptions and feelings about gender. It is important to work at the level of perception to prevent such atrocities. What is also needed is stringent application of our law,” Menon said. She has recently launched a project, Parasparam, which aims to teach young children to question gender bias.
Poet and activist B. Sugathakumari has said that it is a curse for Kerala that innocent children are getting tortured in brutal ways. “I don’t know what is happening to my state. It is disgusting to even talk about it. We should collectively find a way to deal with the menace.” Former chairperson of Kerala State Women’s Commission, Sugathakumari voices her concern for society and nature conservation.
Recently, a nine-year-old girl was found hanging at her home in Palakkad after she was sexually abused by a distant relative. Her elder sister, 14, had been found dead under similar circumstances two months earlier. Both the sisters hanged themselves from the ceiling. The police have taken the relative into custody and are further probing the matter.
In all the three instances, the minors belonged to poor families. In the Kannur and Kollam cases, the minor girls were exploited by people on whom they were dependent.
Said the actor Padmapriya, "Crime of the kind has probably not increased as such but it is probably reported more often now, which is a welcome step. Our redress mechanism is weak and it needs to be addressed urgently.” A multi-tasker, Padmapriya also works with a Delhi-based think-tank.
Disintegrated families, diminishing relationships, addiction to liquor and subjection to online porn are considered some of the reasons why there is an increase in such crimes.
CPI(M) MLA Veena George said that more Malayalis had of late been using narcotic drugs and this could be one reason why such crimes were on the rise in the state. “It is our responsibility to help and teach children in the right way. In my constituency, I have started a helpline where we provide free counselling to children below 12 years. We should do everything possible to protect our children from becoming sexual victims,” she said.
The Kerala government is in fact planning to launch a register of sex offenders with all their details in the public domain. It will be the first of its kind in the country. Addressing the opening day of the fourth session of the legislative assembly last month, Governor P. Sathasivam, who is a former Chief Justice of India, said, “Increasing impunity of sexual offences due to lack of social deterrence is a growing concern all over the country.”
Cry my beloved God's own country.
