Speak up Delhi: How secure are our children?

Two days before  the Republic Day, two motorcycle-borne armed men intercepted a school bus, shot at the driver and kidnapped a five-year-old boy from the vehicle in east Delhi. The incident, that happened in broad daylight, has once again brought the issue of safety and security of young kids in the capital city to the fore. The boy, meanwhile, is yet to recover from the shock.

Be it a protest by members of the Karni Sena or one such kidnapping incident, large number of parents these days are skeptical about the safety of their kids. While protesters took to the streets, harassing the general public over the screening of Padmaavat, it was the lives of students that were put at risk.

“Our kids are not safe anywhere. Someday these mad people are protesting on the streets and on the other day, we see children being kidnapped or molested in the school. All this is demotivating,” said Rahul Verma, a parent.

The boy, a nursery student, was travelling in the mini school bus when the masked and armed kidnappers waylaid the vehicle and dragged him away around 7.30am on Thursday. The two kidnappers had allegedly threatened to shoot all the children if the bus conductor did not open the door. The driver had told police that when he tried to drive away, he was shot in his leg. The driver is recuperating at a government hospital.

The Delhi police, however, has requested all the media houses to not to disclose the identity of the young boy. “We don’t want to disclose the identity of the boy or his family member due to security reason,” said a senior police officer.

The kidnapped boy’s older sister, who was accompanying him, was left unharmed. Police said the kidnappers seemed to know exactly which child they were targeting.  “Now the school bus is also not safe. We cannot monitor the safety of our students all the time,” said Shivika Malhotra, another parent.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party government has decided to let parents have a look of what is happening inside the classroom where their child is studying. The installation of CCTV cameras in all government schools will give a right to view any classroom through mobile application. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last week reviewed the installation of the CCTV cameras in the government schools.

According to the plan, the parents will be able to watch their children studying in classes on real-time basis on their mobile phones. An auto-complaint system will be put in place that will lodge complaints about the non-functioning of CCTV cameras. “The complaints will be automatically forwarded to the system integrator who will rectify it,” he further said.

VOICES

Our kids are not safe anywhere. One day these mad people are protesting on the streets and on the other, we see them kidnapped or molested. We desperately need to bring change in our society and its mechanism. It’s not just finding the criminal and punishing him, but making sure the crime does not repeat is also governments responsibility.
—Sandeep Bali, resident, Mehrauli

Schools are considered as the safest place for a kid. Working parents leave their little ones trusting school with their safety. But after several incidents of crime against children in schools and schools buses, both my wife and I are really thinking about ‘homeschooling’ for my our son..
—Dilip Kumar, resident east Delhi

“I have two daughters who study at a private school in Noida. As a parent I feel in today’s world, looking at the daring nature of crime, we all need to contribute towards the safety of our children. Looking at the incidents happening in Delhi-NCR, I have started dropping and picking my daughters on my own. Of course, it is not sufficient. But neither can they sit at home nor can we live in fear.
—Bhavna Malik, A mother of two and a professor by profession.

“We have specially spoken to the school authorities and requested them to install closed-circuit television sets on school premises. We also wanted such measures to be put in place on school buses. There should be a mechanism to track everything. No such incident should go unnoticed from henceforth. Authorities should be on their toes to ensure that such kidnapping incidents don’t happen again.”
—Sonia Vohra

This kidnapping incident right in front of our eyes in this capital city gives me goosebumps. I feel scared every time I say bye to  my daughter when she boards the school bus.  No place is safe for them these days, where should we send our kids? Something as simple as getting an education should not be so difficult.
—Priti Grover, Homemaker

The safety of our children is of utmost importance. Strict action should be taken against the accused who are involved in crimes such as kidnapping of schoolchildren. There should not be scope for parents to feel scared when they send out their children to schools or let them out for playing or other activities.    
—Harwinder Singh, RWA, defence colony

EXPERT SPEAK

The kidnapping cases in the national Capital of Delhi have witnessed a drop by 36.36 per cent as compared to the year 2016. The Delhi police have been putting its best foot forward to ensure the safety of children. In most of the kidnapping cases pertaining to minors, the Delhi Police have ensured immediate and swift action.
—Madhur Verma, Deputy Commissisoner of Police (PRO)