Child rape survivor stuns India into silence

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A 10-year-old sexual abuse victim in India has stunned the society into silence, becoming yet another case of sexual violence against a minor.

Her uncle reportedly raped her for several months. She delivered a baby girl on Thursday in a state hospital in the northwestern city of Chandigarh after the country’s Supreme Court rejected her abortion plea.

The case has been at the center of a media storm in India, but it has failed to spark a larger debate on child abuse, critics say.

Supreme Court decision criticized

People on social media, who are often quick to respond to sexual violence, appeared late to react on the latest case of child abuse that was widely covered in national and international media.

Indian school students participate in an awareness Campaign against Child Sex Abuse (CSA) in Hyderabad on November 19, 2014, the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse. /AFP Photo

People who discussed the case on social media focused on the Supreme Court’s decision to reject abortion plea and whether the girl’s parents were right to deny custody of the child.

A Facebook user named Priyanka Mallick Mondal said people should not make this an issue. No parents will accept a grandchild born from their 10-year-old girl, she wrote.

Another user, Gurvinder Singh, lashed out at the government, saying that in rape cases of minors, abortion should be allowed.

Criticizing Supreme Court’s decision, he wrote that people are talking about “morality on abortion, it's disgusting as we live with these kinds of third class laws”.

Alarming situation

Thousands of child rape cases are reported every year in India. According to the official figures, the number of such cases was 10,854 in 2015.

An Indian school student's shadow falls on a banner during an awareness campaign against Child Sex Abuse (CSA) in Hyderabad on November 19, 2014. /AFP Photo

A fatal gang-rape of a woman on a bus in New Delhi in 2012 gave rise to an awareness of and reporting of, sexual violence against women, activists say.

The case sparked countrywide protests and paved the way for tougher laws. However, several controversies still focus on sexual abuse.

A case of sexual harassment caused a media frenzy last month, apparently because a son of a politician from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was involved.

It not only sparked a debate over women’s safety and the misuse of political influence in the country but also drew widespread condemnations, which seems rare in child abuse cases.

The Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act (2012) and Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act were praised for giving more teeth to fighting child rights violation.

But, according to Save the Children India, “preventive measures designed to ward off strangers (installing CCTV cameras and giving self-defense training) will be ineffective, as children do not know how to fend off undesired sexual advances from their known relatives, acquaintances or workplace seniors, who they trust.”

A study released last year said, one in every two children in India is a victim of child sexual abuse.

A little over 45,000 children in the 12- 18 age group, across 26 states in the country, participated in survey conducted by humanitarian aid organization World Vision India.

A girl uses her braid as a mustache during a street play on "Child abuse and exploitation" in Mumbai. /AFP Photo

Another study last month blamed gender inequality to child abuse and neglect.

Researchers at Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the US warned in a study that children growing up in communities that experience high levels of gender inequality are more likely to be abused and neglected.

The percentage of physical abuse of minors varied between one and 43 per cent, while child neglect rates were between 0.8 and 49 per cent, noted the study published in the Journal of Family Violence.

Activists say that most child abuse cases in India go unreported.

(With inputs from agencies)