Needed at summer camps: Fun & frolic, but safety too

Just when Bengalureans were beginning to forget the horrendous series of sexual assaults on children in several city schools just over a year ago, last week's incident of the assault on a four year old girl at a summer camp has brought all the fears back. The police and authorities imposed new child safety regulations on schools, but they succeeded by and large only because schools can be regulated, even arm-twisted into obeying guidelines. Summer camps are an unregulated activity, anybody can run them. Is it time to establish rules for these, too? Or, is the onus fully on parents to ensure the safety of their children?

The city, which was shaken by cases of children as young as three and six being raped in its schools over a year ago, is once again having to confront the ugliness of rapists targeting toddlers, this time at a summer camp.

Little did  four-year-old Ahaana (name changed) know that the dance summer camp she was going to at a private school in Kempapura, north-east Bengaluru would change her life forever. It was May 3, and the little girl, daughter of an employee in an interior designing firm , was at the  month long summer camp, when she was allegedly sexually assaulted by her dance teacher, identified as Peter, 22, a resident of Nandini Layout.

Going by the police, the crime took place between 10 am and 1 pm in one of the classrooms . But unaware of what had occurred, the little girl only told her father about it when he  noticed a few bruises when readying her for school. He, of course, lost no time in complaining to the school and with this the horror of child molestation unfolded once again in the city after a gap of over a year.

The last time a child as young as this was molested was in October 2014, when a three-year-old kindergarten student was raped by a 45-year-old school attender in Jalahalli.  At the time the rapes of children that seemed to follow one another randomly at one school after another during the year had raised many questions about how careful  schools were in recruitment of staff and whether they could do more to ensure the safety of the children in their care. But this time with the horror visiting summer camps, similar questions are now being asked about their organisers . How can they be trusted to keep children in their camps safe is the new concern.

Read: Guest column - Make child rights panel, police nod mandatory for these camps

When Ahaana's father lodged a complaint with the school where the camp was organized, it refused to take  responsibility,  saying  the camp was organised on its premises by a private individual. Since then the Amruthahalli police has arrested the accused dance instructor and the camp organizer, Bharath has been detained.

But this is of little comfort to parents who often enroll their children in summer camps in the belief that they will be spending their holidays under the watch of a responsible organiser while  learning some new skills in the process. While the popularity of these camps is growing with several now being organised in the city,  Ahaana's assault is bound to put the brakes on parents' enthusiasm in enrolling their children for them as the question of accountability now looms large.  Should the buck stop with the organizers of the camps or should the schools or any  individual, who lend their premises for them also be held responsible?

A senior police officer says the school  in this case cannot be blamed as the camp was organised by a private individual. "If the school authorities were involved, we could have taken action against them. But, in cases like these, it is upto the parents to do background checks of the organisers before sending their wards to the camps," he underlines.

Anyone can start a camp! Time to make rules, ensure accountability
“Today anybody and everybody can start a summer camp,” notes Mr B T Venkatesh, advocate and former state public prosecutor, arguing  that  this cannot be allowed to go on anymore considering that a chid has now been molested at one such camp. He believes the state needs to take steps to frame certain guidelines for the summer camps that must be followed diligently by their organisers.

Also, suggesting regular inspections of such camps by state authorities, he says to begin with there must be clarity about who the organisers are. “A brochure giving  details of the organisers must be given to every parent. The organisers and  nobody else is  responsible for the children's safety while they are in their care," he maintains emphatically.

Advocate Sandeep Katti too agrees that children are enrolled in summer camps by parents who believe those holding them will not let them down. “There is some trust involved  and there cannot be any breach of it. But parents too should do a background check of the organisers before enrolling their children in their camps," he advises.

Pointing out that most schools outsource summer camps to third parties, former chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee Meena Jain, says they should give strict orders and lay down guidelines on holding them that should be agreed to in writing by the parties concerned.  “And  before the camp begins there must be an orientation programme for the organisers along with parents on POSCO and other acts. Also, there must be signages of dos and don'ts for everyone on the campus,” she suggests, adding, “Our education policy strictly says that for any event organised by the school, safety of children must get priority, even though it does not clearly speak about summer camps. "