########################################################################## # Goanetters-2004 meet in Goa. Dec 21, Tuesday. 12 noon to 2 pm. # # Clube Vasco, Near Municipal Garden, Panjim. Pass the word around! # ##########################################################################
14 cases of child abuse before children’s court in two weeks NT Staff Reporter Panaji Dec 17: Two weeks into its functioning, fourteen cases relating to the abuse of children have been placed before the Children’s Court of Goa, set up under the Goa Children’s Act, 2003. The first of its kind in the country, the Goa Children’s Court meets once every Friday; it first met on December 10 and again today. While eight matters came up on the board last Friday, 11 matters including some miscellaneous applications and two bail applications and were on the board today. But only preliminary hearings have been conducted so far, no case has come up to the trial stage yet. The court deals exclusively with offences against minors, which according to the Goa Children’s Act, have been defined as children under the age of 18, both male and female. Senior court staff said that the cases before the court are basically rapes on minors girls, committed either in a secluded place or in hotel rooms. One special feature of the Goa Children’s Act is that if the rape on the minor is committed in a hotel, its owner and manager are liable for prosecution. The aim of the Act, after all, is to prevent child abuse. Incidentally, both bail applications heard today were from two owners of hotels. One was from Mr Jose Menino Luis, owner of the guest-house in St Jose de Areal, where the main accused Altaf Sayed raped a minor girl on November 14. The second application was from Mr Joasinho Rodrigues, owner of a hotel in Curchorem, where another accused, Agostinho Gama raped another minor girl on November 29. Both were granted bail today; Mr Luis on his second attempt and Mr Rodrigues on his third. In his order, the president of the Children court, Mr A D Salkar noted that the records show that the offences attributed to the bail applicants are not tourism-related child sexual abuse. He also noted that the records show that the offence under Section 8(10) of the Goa Children’s Act, is punishable with fine only. Looking into the facts of the case from any angle, the offences fall under the category of bailable offences, Mr Salkar noted. While earlier rape cases against minors were dealt with in regular courts, now offences against minor children will be dealt with by the children’s court. The punishments are more severe; besides attracting provisions of the Indian Penal Code, offenders also attract sections of the Goa Children’s Act. Offenders charged for grave sexual assault will attract punishment of between 7 to 10 years and a fine of Rs 2 lakh. Offenders have to deposit 75 per cent of the fine before the case begins. A common public misconception regarding the children’s court is that it is the same as the Juvenile Justice Board functioning at Bal Niketan, Merces. It was earlier referred to as the children’s court. But senior staff of the Goa children’s court pointed out that the Juvenile Justice Board handles cases where children are the offenders or accused. On the other hand, the Goa children’s court deals with cases where the children are the victims.
