We Always Speak About Victims, Why Not Teach The Boys? Bombay High Court While Hearing Badlapur School Sexual Assault Case

While hearing a suo motu PIL regarding the alleged sexual assault of two minor kindergarten girls in a school at Badlapur in Thane, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday orally called for "teaching boys the difference between right and wrong" as well as sensitising them about respecting women at a young age.A division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Prithviraj Chavan asked advocate general Birendra Saraf appearing for the State of Maharashtra to submit a few names of persons who can constitute a committee which can recommend the manner of preventing such acts in schools and other places.Noting that committee should work on gender sensitising boys, Justice Mohite Dere further orally remarked,"We always speak about the victims. Why don't we tell the boys what's right and what's wrong. You need to tell the boys what they shouldn't do. Your committee can work on that aspect too. You need to change the mindset of the boys when they are young. Teach them to respect the other gender, respect women, gender sensitisation etc. We had moral science classes. Education department needs to step in here and inculcate all these things in boys when they are young". Meanwhile Justice Chavan orally said that while until children are taught at home about equality "nothing will happen". He remarked "we still work with that male dominance, male chauvinism". The judge further said,"Nothing will happen if equality isn't taught. If proper awareness isn't done no amount of laws will help. And worst is the use of social media. There was a Marathi movie titled "7 che aat, gharat" (Be in home before 7PM) why such movies for girls alone? Why not for boys? Why can't boys be told to be home early?"During the hearing Saraf informed the bench that a committee had been appointed comprising NGOs, Commissioner of Schools, Education Commissioner and representatives of Women and Child Department, etc. to look into the provisions of law and its implementation. Saraf added that a government resolution (GR) had been passed to this effect on August 23.At this stage Justice Mohite Dere orally remarked that the GR only mentioned girls adding that the court was "concerned about everyone" as the POCSO Act refers to the term child which includes boys. The judge thereafter orally said, "Why can't you have a committee comprising a retired Judge, retired IPS officer, retired educator and somebody from Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and somebody from PTAs so that people from all walks of life can come out with their experiences. We want a consolidated committee which can come up with some comprehensive recommendations on how such acts can be curbed at schools etc".Saraf said there was no difficulty in accepting this suggestion and the officers would be instructed accordingly. Then asking Saraf to submit a few names for the constitution of the committee, the high court orally remarked that even if an IPS officer or any one else in part of the panel, the "ground reality doesn't change" as people are not aware of the law. The court orally added that while things are in place "implementation and sensitisation" was not being done. The high court further orally observed that the problem pertained to "percolation of the law" and while schemes looked "good on paper" however in "reality people don't know about the law". The high court thereafter said that reference of the GR would have to be changed to ensure that the term child is mentioned instead of "girls", while orally noting that there were many cases where boys were also assaulted. Asking Saraf to provide the names of the proposed members of the committee the high court listed the matter on September 3. Lapses In Initial Probe By Badlapur PoliceAt the outset, the high court after taking note of a document on the steps taken in the investigation orally remarked, "If you see from the chart, it shows the procedure wasn't followed. We are speaking about Badlapur Police. The mandate of the law is not followed. Badlapur Police attempted to record the victim girl's statements at the police station. There is complete non-compliance of the mandate. Asking the victim and her parents to come to the police station for statement recording is completely insensitive and against the law". Meanwhile Saraf mentioned that three officers had been suspended. When the court enquired about the stage of the probe, Saraf said that test identification parade had been completed. At this stage J Chavan orally asked, "Was he (accused) the only male to clean the toilets? Had he worked with management before? Did he had any acquaintance ? What about the accused's antecedents?". To this Saraf submitted that the accused had worked as a watchman earlier and his parents and cousins are working in the same school. Saraf added that the accused had been married thrice and his wive's statements are also being recorded. Saraf further informed the bench that CCTV footage had been preserved. Pointing to Rule 3 under the POCSO Act, Justice ...

We Always Speak About Victims, Why Not Teach The Boys? Bombay High Court While Hearing Badlapur School Sexual Assault Case

Narsi Benwal

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