Where cops give bharosa to abused boys

​Hyderabad: Counselling of minor boys by police personnel under ‘Bharosa’ has revealed shocking details that boys aged between eight and 17 were victims of sodomy. Sadly, in most cases the culprit is a close acquaintance or a relative.

Senior police officials have expressed concern at the increase in the number of such cases and are planning to carry out special campaigns in coordination with the Department of School Education for creating awareness about child abuse.

The one-stop crisis centre for women and children in distress, Bharosa, started about two months ago, received about 100 cases, out of which 28 cases pertain to child abuse.

Bharosa provides integrated assistance through police, medical, legal and prosecution Services along with psycho-therapeutic counselling, apart from relief and rehabilitation as per the requirements of a victim.

Additional commissioner (Crimes & SIT) and SHE Teams in-charge Swati Lakra said that within 10 days of the launch of Bharosa, several of cases of sexual assault and physical abuse have been reported by adults. “As time passed, child abuse cases were also being reported,” she said.

In response to a query, the additional commissioner said, “When parents brought their children to Bharosa after noticing their mood swings and emotional numbness, initially the boys did not open up. After counselling, they complained about physical abuse.”

Our study on these cases revealed that in all the cases of child abuse, the accused persons are acquaintances of the victims, which is unfortunate. “The children were deceived by persons whom they trust and move closely,” she pointed out.

In a recent case, a 16-year-old boy from the city, who is studying Intermediate, was brought to the centre by his mother. The boy, one of the three sons of a fruit vendor was very active, until he was sexually and physically abused when he was studying Class X.

“The boy used to visit a small grocery store near his house. Meanwhile, he became friendly with three persons living in the neighbourhood. Once, when the boy was alone in his house, the three persons made sexual advances towards him. From then on, they started bullying and harassing him whenever they saw him,” she said.

“They bullied the boy to go their house and forced him to do sexual favours. They captured videos of the horrifying act and threatened to defame the boy by showing it in his neighbourhood. For a period of six months, the three persons carried out the act several times,” said the additional commissioner.
The boy went in to depression and became emotionally numb. His mother, an illiterate, brought him to Bharosa for counselling, where he spoke of the abuse.

An analysis of such incidents by the police revealed that in most of the cases, the accused were acquaintances of the children. These children never complained about the abuse as they were afraid of getting bullied by the adults.

“After noticing such cases, we have decided to conduct awareness campaigns on child abuse in all government schools in coordination with the Department of School Education. Male children are generally left free by parents thinking that they will be safe, but the fact remains that some people take advantage of the child’s adolescence and exploit them. This will diminish the confidence of the child and may lead to extreme conditions where the child may end his/ her life,” the officer said.

By: Jayendra Chaithanya T