Minor girl in Indian children’s home alleges sexual abuse
Ashok Kumar GURUGRAM
Driver of woman who runs the home arrested;
another institute run by her comes under scrutiny
A 13-year-old girl at a Child Care Institute (CCI) run by Ujjawal Niketan Charitable Trust in Hayatpur has accused an employee of sexually assaulting her. A case has been registered and the accused arrested.
Another CCI run by the same trust in Sector 4 was booked a week ago for violations under the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act.
The matter came to light when a three-member Observation Committee headed by Chief Judicial Magistrate Suruchi Atreja Singh carried out an inspection at the Hayatpur CCI on July 6 and found several discrepancies.
‘Many discrepancies’
“During inspection, the committee found that the records of the home were manipulated. There were discrepancies in the documents showing the age and parentage of the children,” Ms. Singh said.
“Some children were sent to Goa without requisite permission from the Child Welfare Committee. Also the children were given in adoption in violation of laws,” she said, adding that there seemed to be “much more to it”.
After the committee directed that the children at the CCI be shifted to another home, the teenage girl complained of pain in her private parts and was taken to a hospital.
“She later confided in the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) members that one of the employees, Madan, had sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion. She also revealed that more men would come to the home and assault her,” said CWC chairperson (Gurugram) Shakuntala Dhull.
The police registered a case on July 13 and arrested Madan. The accused is the chauffeur of Lily Berito, who runs both the Child Care Institutes of the trust.
Illegal adoptions
Police said that the role of Ms. Berito and other persons in the case is being verified.
The Observation Committee had also carried out an inspection at the Sector 4 CCI, run by the same trust, on July 4 and found two girls at the centre despite closure proceedings already being initiated against the home early this year.
The police were informed and a case was registered in this connection.
The Sector 4 institute had come under the CWC scanner after a team carried out an inspection at its premises in November last year and found that two minor girls were given in illegal adoption.
Hyatpur, India
Police arrest man on suspicion of grooming after latest 'paedophile hunter' sting in Bath
It was carried out by self-styled 'paedophile hunter'
Danny Catcher in the city centre today
BY ANDREW BABER
Another sting carried out by a self-styled ‘paedophile hunter’ in Bath today (July 17) resulted in a man being arrested on suspicion of grooming offences.
Police were first called to the incident at Stall Street at around 11am, after receiving a call from ‘Danny Catcher’ – a man dedicated to catching online sexual predators.
A 35-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of grooming offences and remains in police custody while investigations are ongoing.
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police said: “We were called to Stall Street and arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of grooming. He remains in police custody.”
The suspect is alleged to have arranged to meet what he thought to be a 13-year-old girl, but he was instead confronted by the man who operates under the pseudonym Danny Catcher.
Following the arrest, Avon and Somerset police pointed to the latest National Police Chiefs Council guidelines on child sexual exploitation and 'paedophile hunters'.
National Policing Lead on Child Abuse Investigation Chief Constable Simon Bailey said: “The police service is committed to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse in all its forms.
“We have invested in more undercover resources and other covert resources to catch those seeking to groom children online and we are already starting to see more of these offenders being brought to justice."
“We understand the desire to protect children but any member of the public who has information about child sexual abuse, online or otherwise, should get in contact with the police so we can investigate and bring people to justice.
“So called paedophile hunters are taking risks they don’t understand and can undermine police investigations."
“Revealing the identity of suspected paedophiles gives the suspect the opportunity to destroy evidence before the police can investigate them.
“It can jeopardise ongoing police investigations and these people have no way of safeguarding child victims. It also leads to people who have been identified going missing or raising concerns for their safety.
“This can divert significant resources into protecting suspects, which would be better invested in investigating and, where there is evidence, prosecuting them.
“There is also the risk of wrongly accusing someone; if someone is wrongly accused of being a paedophile in a hugely public way that makes people who live with them, live near them, work with them assume they have committed the offence.
“The temptation to kill themselves may be just as great even if they are innocent; that is an appalling consequence to contemplate.”
If any member of the public has concerns about online grooming, they should report them to their local police, to CEOP at www.ceop.police.uk, or to Crimestoppers.
If you think a child is at immediate risk of harm call 999.
WA girl told two people before taking life
A 13-year-old Aboriginal girl who killed herself in 2013 told at least two people including a community elder about her plans to end her life in the days before but nothing was done.
The girl's death and that of her younger sister three years later at the age of 10 is part of a cluster of suicides involving 13 young indigenous people in the Kimberley and is the subject of an inquest - one of the largest in Australia in years - that started in Perth last month and is being held in Broome this week.
One of those the girl told about wanting to die was a respected female community elder and board member on the Kalumburu Corporation who told her "to cheer up and not to do anything silly".
She did nothing and told nobody about it until after the girl had died, child protection worker Rosalee Webb told the inquest being held by Coroner Ros Fogliani.
"When people threaten it all the time, you hear it three to four times a week ... it lessens the seriousness," she said.
A depressing description was given of the children's lives in Kalumburu, the northernmost community in WA, in which they are surrounded by dysfunction, alcohol and cannabis abuse, violence and sexual abuse and suffer attachment issues due to a lack of care from their parents.
The inquest continues on Tuesday, when it will examine the deaths of a 17-year-old boy found at the town's football oval in 2015 - who has been described as neglected from the moment he was born - and a 24-year-old man who also died in Broome.
Child sex abuse seems to be rampant in many indigenous communities, in many countries. CSA, I am convinced, is a prime contributor to extremely high rates of child suicides in several countries. It may not be the original form of abuse suffered by indigenous people, but, I believe, it is often the final form of abuse for far too many children.
Bedfordshire Police officer appears in court over
child sex abuse image charges
JP Asher
A Bedfordshire Police officer appeared in court over the weekend, charged with offences involving child sex abuse images.
Det Con Jamal Hassan, who is based at the force’s Kempston headquarters, has been charged with three counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child, as well as perverting the course of justice.
The 36-year-old appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, and is next set to appear at Cambridge Crown Court on August 11.
Det Con Hassan has been suspended since the allegations came to light.
Bedfordshire, UK
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