Cops told to be friendly with child victims

Vijayawada: Police officers should be friendly with the victims of child abuse to extract correct information from them, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Gajarao Bhupal while addressing the meeting organised in connection with the child rights week celebrations at the sub collector’s office here on Monday. The meeting was jointly organised by Women and Child Welfare department, Child Rights Advocacy Foundation (CRAF) and World Vision India.

The DCP said that every police officer and the parents should be aware of the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. “The police officers should behave in a friendly manner in learning the facts from the children to pinpoint the criminals,” he added.

The victims approach the police with  the belief that justice would be served to them and they should not be disappointed in filing criminal case against the accused whoever they were, the DCP said.

He instructed the police officers to work in coordination with the officials of juvenile welfare, women and child welfare and the civil society organisations.

In this connection he released a wall poster published in Telugu about the provisions of the POCSO Act. World Vision India representative Tabita Francis expressed concern over the growing atrocities against children. “It is the responsibility of the police to protect children,” she said and added that the police should visit schools to win the confidence of children.

Francis Tambi, director of Child Rights Advocacy Foundation (CRAF) who is the resource person to the meeting, through a power-point presentation elaborated the provisions of Juvenile Justice Act, POCSO Act, and the responsibility of the police officers. He said that all the police stations should be child-friendly.

District Child Protection Officer Vijay Kumar Additional project director Swaroopa Rani, Distgrict Prohibition officer Bhaskar Rao, Observation Home superintendent Kasim Doraswamy, DSP N Rama Raqo, World Manager Christopher, Johnson, Raju, Jessi, CRAF coordinator Nitta Srinivasa Rao and others were present.