Spate of sexual assaults on kids gives parents and schools sleepless nights

MUMBAI: The renewed spate of sexual assaults on children in the city has sparked new worries for parents. While several of them are busy meeting school authorities and NGOs to start senitization programmes for school staff, as well as parents and students, parent-teacher associations (PTA) are conducting workshops in their schools.
“To ensure the safety of our children, all stakeholders have to come together, including parents, school and law enforcement agencies.We have been conducting workshops for parents and students at school, but will do so more regularly from now on,” said Rusit Patel, PTA member of Utpal Shanghvi School in Andheri (W). He added that the focus needs to be on changing the mindset of the society.
On March 22, a peon at the Home for Mentally Deficient Children in Mankhurd was arrested following complaints of rape and sexual assault by two minors. Last week, a 32-year-old sports teacher from Ambernath was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl in the school bus.
“One of the main problems is that PTAs are either not existent or not strong enough. Parents can take the initiative to ensure that the school takes its responsibility seriously,” said Arundhati Chavan, president, All India PTA Forum.
Parents said the law needs to be more stringent and clear, and the focus should be on certainty of punishment and not just severity. “Knowing that the predator will be caught and punished will help change the mindset of people. Law enforcers have to play a big role in this process,” said Srikala Murthy, PTA member of a Thane school.