Every Acquittal in Crimes against Children, Failure of Judiciary – Uma M.G
Manipal: Every acquittal in crimes related to children should be understood as the failure of judiciary said Member Secretary Karnataka Legal Services Authority Uma M.G. She was speaking after inaugurating THE role of police and public under NALSA (Child-friendly legal services to Children and their protection 2015) organised at the TMA Pai Hall, Manipal here on April 2. The programme was organised by the District Legal Services Authority in association with District Administration, Police Department, Prosecution Department and Vaikunta Baliga College of Law.
The review on the acquittal of an accused has to be studied as the base for filing future cases. The leads on the study on the acquittal of an accused can be applied for future similar cases.
Public outrage leads the accused to be let free, as evidence get tampered due to public outrage. When a case is reported leading to public outrage, police should manage to win the confidence of the people, as public outrage can delay the investigation process. Police need to bridge the gap between the system and people to ensure effective policing.
The police are the first point of contact during the reporting of any crime. A child-friendly atmosphere has to be created during the investigation of the crimes related to children. We need to change our mindset towards children during the investigation process in the crimes related to them.
The society has to play a larger role in moulding children. The environment in which a child grows determines its character, society needs to play a larger role.
People have a lot of expectations from the police and judiciary. The Legal Services Authority has been playing a vital role in spreading awareness of the law in the society, she added.
District Principal and Sessions Judge and President of Legal Services Authority Udupi Venkatesh Naik T said that the investigating and prosecuting agency together with the judiciary have to play a vital role in the society. The police being in the frontline, the prosecuting agency together with the police department has to play a larger role in the conviction of the accused. A child-friendly atmosphere has to be facilitated during the investigation of crimes related to children.
Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate Priyanka Mary Francis said that children feel that protection itself is a punishment. Children rescued during various instances have shared their feeling that protection itself is punishment. The police personnel together with departments coordinating child protection should be given basic psychological training. The departments facilitating child protection have restricted themselves to provisions of law applicable to their departments. Better coordination among the departments can lead to better protection, she added.
District Superintendent of Police K.T Balakrishna, Additional Superintendent of Police Vishnuvardhan, Principal VBCL Prakash Kanive, Member of Karnataka State Child Rights Protection Committee Dr. Vanitha Thorvi, Public Prosecutor Shanthi Bai, Chief Judicial Magistrate and Principal Civil Judge Shivram K, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate and Senior Civil Judge Rajesh Karnan K, Secretary of District Legal Services Authority Latha and others were present.