CHENNAI, February 25: Seven-year-old Arun (not his real name) was not quite the son his mother doted on. Adult-like he bore the thrashings that his mother gave him to vent her pent up anger against her husband, quietly. Till his school teacher noticed the scars and called the Crisis Intervention Centre for Children.The Std VIII girls of a premier school in the city were used to strange punishments from their master. Threatened with dire consequences, they suffered in silence till the social worker from the centre called on them.The lives of about 50 children have changed for the better in the last five years, thanks to the Indian Council of Child Welfare's (ICCW) Crisis Intervention Centre for Children.
Set up by the Department of Social Defence, the centre invokes Section 14 of the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act) 1984, which states that the Juvenile Justice Board can take custody of any child if any parent or guardian does not act in the interest of the minor.
Today, Arun has found a home away from hismother, while the master in the premier school has been given marching orders.
A concept very common in the West, the centre is the first of its kind in the State. On receipt of a phone call, the centre's social workers rush in where other people fear to tread. Says Jaya Sundar, ``People who balk at comments like `It is my child. I'll beat him or even kill him,' usually call us. We rush to the spot, make discreet enquiries and finally confront the people.'' In rare cases, the centre turns to the Juvenile Welfare Board, which after a study of the situation seizes custody of the child. But in most cases, just a call from the social worker is enough for the concerned to see reason.
ICCW honorary general secretary Chandra Thanickachalam explains, ``Arun's was a peculiar case. We found that the father was an alcoholic who neglected the family and the mother was directing her anger towards her husband at her son. Surprisingly, she was taking good care of Arun's sister.'' The mother was mentally disturbed andArun had to be handed over to a welfare organisation.
But mostly, the centre works towards ensuring that the child leads a better life in the same environment. When there was a phone call from Mannadi, that an employer was holding a child as a prisoner on the grounds that he had stolen some money, the social worker's visit settled matters. ``Of course, he denied that he was doing any such thing and that there was even a boy by that name, but later we learnt that our visit had put the fear of God in him and that he had turned the boy free,'' says Jaya.
Surprisingly, in this metropolis, it is not just exploitation of poor children by employers that the centre has to deal with, but also ill-treatment of children by their own parents. Of the 11 cases that the centre took up since June 1997 till now, at least four children were victims of their parents' anger.
According to Chandra, ``In almost all cases the father turns out to be an alcoholic and the mother unable to bear the burden of running the familyturns her ire on her children. In most cases the mother has psychological problems which reflects in her attitude to her children.''
However, mere ignorance also leads parents to behave peculiarly. There was this couple living in a posh area, who were so career-oriented that they locked up their two children, one of them aged two, when they left for work. The children shrieked through the day and neighbours had to break window panes to rescue the children. Later the centre was informed and a talk by the social workers helped the parents see reason. They decided to change their priorities.
But things were not always this simple. An alcoholic father had trampled upon a five-year-old girl in anger, dislocating her jaw bone. The mother, too preoccupied with her problems, let the girl live on with a fractured jaw for an year. The child was unable to open her mouth even to chew food. The centre referred the case to the Board which took custody of the child, put her on intensive physiotherapy and handed her overto the care of a voluntary organisation.
Talking of the peculiar situation prevailing in the country, where children face exploitation not just at home or at school but also at the work place, Chandra says the need of the hour is a special, stringent law to deal with child abuse.
Meanwhile, the centre is now working towards getting an easy-to-remember three-digit phone number and is assiduously preparing to publicise its services with the Rs one lakh granted by the Department of Social Defence.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
