Bhubaneswar: When the senior IPS officer Arun Bothra mentioned all the grisly details about how the five-year old Nayagarh minor girl was murdered and raped, he also in the same breath talked about how the 18-year old accused was addicted to child pornography and how that has triggered this sickening Nayagarh episode.
However, the popping of child pornography cause in this horrible crime reminds a more shocking fact. The shocker is Odisha dubiously leads the country in use of child for pornography – a very sinister crime. The State was at the top in 2018, and the cases have clocked a high of 63 per cent in the year 2019. The humongous growth is hair raising one, when in 2017 the State had registered a mere 8 cases.
Moreover, as the SIT has registered the Nayagarh minor girl murder case under the Section 4 & 6 of POCSO Act read with section 376 IPC. The big embarrassing fact for the State is Odisha figured among the dubious top-10 states in country, when it comes to rapes registered under POCSO Act. The number of victims had also risen to 1,505 in 2019 from 1,431 in 2018.The State prominently figured at the 7thplace in the country. The crime rate of child rape (victims/lakh girl child population) is 2nd highest in country. The chart is led by Telangana.
How disgusting the social environment for a girl child in Odisha had been brought to the fore by the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) reports over the years.
Why Odisha Has Come To Such A Pass?
Social activist Anuradha Mohanty see it a more social problem. She said, “Since this is a manifestation of perverse mindset, society as whole, especially parents, had to play a much larger role. They need to caution their children when they use social media. Children need to counsel over choosing friends and avoid strangers or people with bad habits.”
Psychiatrists in Odisha are of the view that rising drug and alcohol intake have been the prime reason behind rise in child pornography and rapes. “There is a region in brain of a human. This part is called as the self-control switch of brain. In people addicted to drugs/alcohol, the region of the brain loses its sensitivity. As a result, they are tempted to commit such crimes and children became their easy target,” said Dr Subhendu Mishra, an eminent psychiatrist. He further added that poverty, low education and anti-social mindset are responsible for rise in such crimes.
Role Of Odisha Police & Odisha Government
Even as it is a social malice, the law enforcement agencies and Odisha government have to apportion the blame over the rise in such ghastly crimes against children in the State.
“Police can play a role in curbing the crime. They have to investigate and take a case to conviction stage. It’s then when crime can be stopped. In Nayagarh, the police did little to investigate the case professionally. The issue took the centrestage, only when the minor girl’s parents made a self-immolation bid before the State Assembly,” reasoned senior lawyer Nishikant Mahapatra.
As per various SC judgements and various committees on children, in order to prevent crime against children, police and State Children Commissions need to conduct session of safety tips for children, and they should sensitise kids about the good and bad touch for them.