KJ George: Criminal cases against 186 schools

Bengaluru: After public outrage over the repeated incidents of sexual abuse of children in various schools, the home department seems to have finally acted, filing cases of negligence against some 186 schools that are in non-compliance of the new government guidelines on school safety.

Home Minister K. J.George on Monday said that criminal cases have been filed against these schools in Bengaluru city.

"Of the 3651 schools in city, only 600 schools have complied with the guidelines issued by the home department. This is just a beginning," Mr George said, while maintaining that the crime rate in Karnataka was lower than other states.

"Bengaluru's crime rate is 4.88 per cent while in Ahmedabad it is 4.58 per cent. While Delhi has registered a crime rate of 21.41 percent, Mumbai's crime rate is 5.51 per cent. Public outrage is disproportionate to reality," he remarked. 

After public outrage over the repeated incidents of sexual abuse of children in various schools, the home department seems to have woken up from its slumber.

Home Minister K. J. George on Monday said that criminal cases have been filed against 186 schools in Bengaluru city  for having failed to comply with the guidelines issued by the government.

“Of the 3,651 schools in city, only 600 schools have complied with the guidelines issued by the home department while the remaining schools are in the process of implementing them.

The 186 schools against whom cases have been booked had not made any effort to follow the guidelines. Hence cases have been registered against them.

This is just the beginning,” Mr George said. He asserted that the government had taken many measures to ensure a safe environment in the schools and maintained that the crime rate in Karnataka was lower when compared to other states.

“You study the nature and pattern of crime and the number of such incidents in other states and compare them with Karnataka. The number is much lower,” Mr. George said.

“Bangalore’s crime rate is 4.88,  in Ahmedabad it is 4.58 per cent, and Delhi has registered a crime rate of 21.41 percent, while Mumbai’s crime rate is 5.51 per cent.  When this is the reality, the public outrage is disproportionate to the reality,” he remarked.

He also justified the government’s action in matters related to crime and sexual abuse against children by saying that the arrest rate in all such crime incidents was almost 100 per cent.

“It is also true that there has been mass awareness among the people after the Nirbhaya incident. The change in the definition of CrPC 386 which defines rape, has also contributed to victims coming forward and registering a complaint.

Earlier, only penile penetration was defined as rape but after the Nirbhaya incident, a ‘bad touch’ is also considered  rape,” Mr George claimed.

The state government is contemplating conducting a mass awareness campaign against various forms of sexual abuse, similar to what was done  in the USA way back in the mid 80s.

“A committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary V. Umesh is fine-tuning the guidelines issued to prevent sexual abuse to make them stronger,” Mr George said.

“A committee headed by DG & IGP Lalrukumo Pachao has been constituted to work out the intricacies and nuances of the mass awareness campaign,” he added.

According to him, another committee headed by the additional chief secretary, Mr Umesh had been assigned to further fine tune the guidelines issued by the Home department with an aim to prevent sexual abuse of children.

When asked about the rise in rape cases against women, Mr George said, “You want me to promise to prevent crimes. But do you know, even God cannot assure you that he would prevent crimes from happening!”