Learning lessons in a hard way after the serial rape of a 11-year-old child with disability, the residents’ association of the apartment complex in Ayanavaram, where the child 12-year- old resident became a victim of serial rape incident for seven months, sent a letter to other resident welfare associations in the country on Friday, highlighting what it learnt from the harrowing incident.
For Representative purpose only
Chennai:
“The worst has happened. Our biggest concern is, what if this is happening in other places? How can our sorrows be a lesson to other residential dwellings,” noted the association while sharing its thoughts with others on various issues.
COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY:
Living in an apartment is like being a part of larger family. Watch out for each other and don’t be afraid to ask questions when you see anything suspicious.
BE VIGILANT:
Assume that CCTV and ID cards can always be circumvented by criminals. But still invest in the best and supplement it with resident vigilance. Parents and grandparents must be made aware of the risk of trusting vendors and service providers with their children.
STRANGER DANGER:
Awareness campaign to be conducted regularly on variety of topics including good touch and bad touch, abuse of different types and other sensitive issues.
RESPECT, LISTEN TO POLICE:
Because they had seen the worst criminals and also, they are best equipped to help us to stay safe. Noting how the women and other resident volunteers have formed a task force to man the security and maintenance services in the building, the association said this would continue, albeit in a scaled down manner, even after new agencies are appointed.
‘Act against cops for revealing victim’s identity’
Alleging that the identity and personal details of the child victim in serial rape case and her family have been doing the rounds among the media through messaging platforms, a social organisation in Chennai sent a petition to state police DGP and Chennai city police commissioner seeking action against the personnel for allegedly leaking the information. Providing such information was violative of Section 23 of POCSO Act, Section 74 of JJ Act, Section 228-A of IPC and Section 228-A of IPC, A Narayanan, director, Change India, sought the department to investigate how these details were leaked, and demanded appropriate departmental action against the officers who leaked the information to the media. “This certainly violates the privacy, dignity and may affect the rehabilitation of the victim and may put her to avoidable risks,” Narayanan noted in his petition.