Staff Reporter
NAHARLAGUN, 26 May: An eight-year-old child is hospitalized here at the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS), following an assault by one Lukbi Bojir, a teacher and his wife.
An FIR has been lodged before the Women Police Station in Itanagar, which has been forwarded to the Seijosa Police Station in Pakke Kessang district.
The child’s family, who are economically not well off, had allowed the child to stay with Bojir and his wife in 2018 as he had promised her free education.
A relative said that child was just five years old when she had joined the Bojir family.
The child is currently not able to communicate properly because of shock, family members said.
According to the complaint, the family never got to meet the child after she was taken but was assured that the child was doing well.
Finally, Bojir called the child’s father on 5 May to come and pick up the girl on the same day. According to the father, he (Bojir) kept changing the date and place before handing over the child at Pasighat.
“He called the father to Itanagar but when he reached there, he was directed to come to Pangin and then Tuting. Finally, Bojir handed over the child to the father on 25 May at Pasighat. Bojir fled from the Pasighat bus station,” the FIR reads.
The Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (APSCPCR) and the Arunachal Pradesh Women’s Welfare Society (APWWS) have expressed shock at the assault of a minor girl and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.
On getting the information, APSCPCR Chairperson Gumri Ringu took sou motto cognizance of the child abuse case.
A team consisting of the APSCPCR members, Ngurang Achung and Jumtum Minga, accompanied by the centre administrators of One Stop Centres, Naharlagun and Pakke Kessang visited the victim at TRIHMS, where she is currently undergoing treatment.
Ringu has appealed to the citizens to abide by the law and inform the Childline toll free no 1098 if any child is being abused or has been abandoned. “The name of the informer is kept confidential,” she said.
She further said that the team of APSCRC will continue to follow-up with the police regarding the progress of the case.
Ringu said that she was shocked and failed to understand “why a teacher, who is the epitome of love and affection, abused the child.”
“It is sickening that such sick-minded people exist in our society,” she said.
APWWS (CEC) secretary general Kani Nada Maling, who was also chairperson of the ICR Child Welfare Committee, said that “it is very unfortunate that the cases of child abuse are rampant in the society, but many go unreported.”
She said that “more sensitization on child laws is needed as many children are abused in the state.”
