Jaipur cops to mentor child abuse victims, delinquents

The Jaipur Police Commissionerate will now play mentor to child victims of atrocities such as child labour, child marriage and sexual abuse, besides juvenile delinquents.

In a supposed first in the country, the Jaipur police is all set to launch “Sneh Aangan”- a one-stop crisis management centre for children along with a special juvenile police unit in Jaipur on Saturday.

Child victims will get all possible assistance under one roof here, right from legal aid to counselling. The project will be launched in assistance with UNICEF.

Senior police officials said the twin arrangement will deal with all kinds of atrocities on children. The victims will be brought to ‘Sneh Aangan’, where police will ensure legal aid as well as protection of the rights of children.

There are plans to expand the reach of the cell and start similar initiatives across the state. Juvenile delinquents will also be brought to this centre for counselling.

“It’s the first-of-its-kind initiative in the entire country. Cases related to children will be dealt with more sensitivity as the police will be fully equipped to provide all help from legal aid to counselling,” said a senior police officer of the  Commissionerate.

Apart from UNICEF, Panchayati Raj institutions, national level NGOs and other government organisations will also be involved, he added.  Official sources said UNICEF will take care of the counselling of children through highly specialised experts. UNICEF will also work hand in hand in ensuring the rights of the children.

Earlier, the police had to depend on local NGOs to bail out the kids. These NGOs would arrange  counselling without being aware of the legal rights of the children.

Child marriages and child labour have been on the rise in the state. In the past few months alone, the police and the district administration have rescued a number of child labourers from various factories in Jaipur.