On August 16, 2019, Anugyalaya Darjeeling Diocese Social Service Society with Caritas India advanced a crucial step in collaborating with the District Child Protection Unit of Darjeeling, West Bengal, to enhance the capacity of 30 Social Welfare Officers of the Special Juvenile Police from across 16 Police Stations. 

Deferred legal proceedings in the child protection cases, owing to absence of robust intervention from the Police, Public Prosecutors and the judiciary are ground realities. This further victimises the children against whom crime has been committed, and their families. Sluggish proceedings augment the mental and emotional distress of the victims, to the extent of breaking their spirit to pursue the fight for justice. This typically results in pressure on the families to withdraw their cases from the accused, delayed justice and low conviction rate. Realising the seriousness of the situation, ADDSSS started conducting orientation and sensitisation sessions for Police Officers on child rights and protection issues, social vulnerabilities, legalities and available schemes and systems for child protection at all levels.

Ensuring child protection is the primary responsibility of family, supported by the Government, community and civil society by creating safe environment and legal safeguards. Hence, every actor needs to perform their responsibility to make sure that children grow in a protected environment, expressed, Shri Pranay Rai, Special Public Prosecutor. He went on to highlight the gaps in handling the cases of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) under the POCSO Act, in which the Investigating Officers (I.O.) have a crucial role to play. Ms. Anchita Bagchi, Assistant Public Prosecutor, explained about the JJ Act and shed light on the loopholes with the help of actual cases.

While interacting with the resource persons, the Police Officers flagged the issue of insensitivity among the doctors when the victim of CSA is taken for a medical examination, prior to producing the child before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). They recommended that similar sensitisation and awareness be created among the doctors and medical practitioners of different government hospitals, especially the district hospital. They also suggested to involve the CWC and the judiciary to further enrich the impact of this initiative.

Cases of child sexual abuse have been increasingly reported in North Bengal, and ADDSSS has been handling these since 2013, under the Caritas India supported programme on Child Rights. As a follow on to this district level workshop, the DCPU and ADDSSS agreed to organise the workshop with other stakeholders too, while the police officers expressed their confidence in resolving the pending cases swiftly and efficiently in their jurisdiction after this workshop.

Subsequently, on August 21, 53 ICDS Workers and Supervisors from Pokhriabong GP – I, II & III under Jorebunglow Sukhia block, Darjeeling, were oriented on child rights and protection, with the objective sensitising and educating them on the interdependent lifecycle approach to child development involving Survival, Participation, Development and Protection.