ITANAGAR, 2 Jun: The Arunachal Pradesh Women’s Welfare Society (APWWS) has expressed grave concern over physical abuse and ill-treatment of a 10-year-old househelp by a government officer in East Siang district.
On Tuesday, the police arrested Agriculture Development Officer Nanung Sitang for employing a 10-year-old girl as househelp and exposing the child to continuous distressful and violent treatment.
Expressing deep anguish over the rise in the number of offences against children in the state, the APWWS said that such incidents need to be dealt with an iron hand.
“We as a mother organisation are extremely concerned about the situation. Such cases must be dealt with an iron hand, so that nobody will dare to commit such heinous acts,” APWWS president Kani Nada Maling said.
The APWWS said that the government should take stringent action against such employees as per the laid-down rules.
“Since it is a clear-cut case of child abuse, the police must submit the chargesheet, so that stringent punishment is awarded to the accused,” Maling said, and requested the police to expedite the investigation.
“I have spoken to the deputy director of the ICDS and the centre administrator of the one-stop centre (OSC), where the first information was received.
“Swift action by the police, the East Siang district child protection unit, the Pasighat-based Child Welfare Committee (CWC), and the OSC helped the child,” Maling said.
The CWC immediately provided medical assistance, shelter, and counselling to the minor girl, she said.
Stating that rigorous campaigns need to be organised to create awareness among the public about children’s rights, Maling urged the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights to conduct campaigns on children’s rights.
The APWWS appealed to the citizens to be vigilant and inform cases of child abuse through the toll-free Childline number 1098 without any hesitation.
“The informer’s name is not revealed,” it said.
