Government shelter guard arrested for trying to assault minor inmate in Chennai
CHENNAI: A 50-year-old security guard at a government-run women's shelter in Chitlapakkam was arrested on Sunday night under the Pocso Act for allegedly attempting to sexually assault a 13-year-old girl and injuring her in the process. The child, who suffered a leg fracture, is undergoing treatment at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH).
Police said the accused, Mathew of Chitlapakkam, was on night duty at the shelter, which is run by the Tamil Nadu Social Welfare Department.
Around 5 am on Sunday, while the girl was asleep, Mathew allegedly covered her mouth with a cloth and tried to carry her to another part of the facility. When she resisted, he allegedly dropped her to the ground and fled. The fall caused a fracture to one of her legs.
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Time of India
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- Time of India
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Time of India
3 hours ago
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The POCSO Act criminalizes all forms of child sexual abuse, including aggravated assault by persons in positions of trust and power. The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, especially after the 2016 amendment, bans all forms of child labour below 14 and hazardous labour for adolescents. Each law is the outcome of deep pain and pressure. Each is supposed to mean that a child will not be married off at 13, raped by a teacher, made to clean sewers, or trafficked across borders. Each is a promise. But what happens when those promises aren't kept? Internationally too, our commitments are robust. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989 — ratified by India in 1992 — guarantees protection from economic exploitation, protection from trafficking and sexual abuse, and the right to recovery and reintegration. The ILO Conventions No. 138 and 182 target child labour by specifying minimum ages for work and condemning the worst forms of child labour. 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That begins with treating children not as passive beneficiaries of adult benevolence, but as rights-holders with agency, dignity, and the full attention of the law. The world cannot afford to mistreat its children and hope to survive. If we do not change the way we value childhood — not just sentimentally, but structurally — then the world we hand over to the next generation will be even more unlivable than the one we inherited. And that, perhaps, will be the cruelest failure of all. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
New Indian Express
8 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Six held for raping minor in Andhra's Sathya Sai
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