A rally against child abuse was held at Besant Nagar beach in Chennai on Sunday morning.
Holding placards carrying messages against child abuse, children and elders gathered near the police booth on the beach road around 6.30 a.m. They walked for a few hundred metres as part of the rally.
H. Jayalakshmi, Deputy Commissioner of Police, special wing for crimes against women and children, was the chief guest at the event.
She said that the police had zero tolerance towards crimes against children. “All angles of abuse and neglect are looked into. We employ the best practices from around the world in ensuring children-related crimes are handled with due care and diligence. Our All Women Police Stations have child counsellors and all police officers working there are trained consistently on handling sensitive crimes,” she said.
Social activist and politician Apsara Reddy, who organised the event, said that society needed to look at child abuse as a human rights issue.
Stating that it could happen in any home and there was no real profile of a perpetrator, she added that boys too were subjected to sexual abuse.
Members of FICCI FLO, Lions Club and transgender organisations took part in the rally.