Kallola

“yaarigu helodu beda, summage namma paatigey erona. naaley yaarigunu nenupu iralla, bidu ” (No need to tell anyone, let’s stick to going about our business. Tomorrow, no one will remember this, leave it), was one of the least agonizing shows of strength extended to the distraught mother of a four year old girl-child, violated by the local stud of their slum. Parallely, Times of India carried a terrible account of male child abuse left unattended for dacades! Children constitute 42% of India’s population and their safety is paramount to the health of our nation.  But in spite of recent legal reforms that criminalise not only sexual assault and its abetment but also any indulgence in its idea – like child pornography – each day of 2015, recorded eight child sexual abuse cases on average, with only 2.5% ending in convictions. Sure, this alarming trend is not unique to any country in the world and it is not an unknown phenomenon either (for worse statistics, just look at America