Protect Vulnerable Minors

We time and again come across disturbing news of children being tied by foot or physically restrained because of their mental and physical handicap. Poverty, ignorance and superstitions contribute to the occurrences of such painful scenes. As per a news report published in this daily, an eight-year-old girl from Madhuwan Municipality-5 of Bardiya is being kept tied inside a goat shed at a time she should be going to school, playing, learning new things and enjoying her childhood. This is heart-wrenching. The girl’s distressing condition has once again raised serious concerns regarding human rights and child protection. It is also a grave violation of a child rights. 

However, due to being unable to provide childcare due to extreme poverty, unable to identify and afford treatment to developmental disorders like Autism and Hyperactivity, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD) or other types of behavioural disorders, innocent children have to go through conditions they do not deserve. Behind these incidents are underlying social, economic and health issues and stigmas that are often overlooked. Poverty-stricken parents, already burnt out, resort to tying their children to restrain them physically when they should actually be trying to find the underlying cause for their children's condition. It was her mother's desperate effort to protect her from getting lost. The stressed mother lacked the financial resources to identify and treat the condition of the child.  

At a time when people of rural areas struggle to find cetamol, a commonly available medicine, on time, finding specialised care and treatment for children with special needs is impossible for parents. When the child has disability, a mental health problem or behavioural challenges, parents without resources and awareness resort to confining children, which is detrimental to the child's overall growth. When state institutions are not able to provide free education, healthcare and other basic amenities, child rights become a far cry and monitoring the situation of child rights becomes less significant. 

We have a designated Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens to work for the welfare of children, and numerous NGOs and INGOs working in the same sector. However, children, whose parents lack basic resources, are experiencing confinement instead of proper care and treatment, and often fall off their radar. Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel had announced a plan to open one model school for children with autism in all seven provinces. At a time when more than 300,000 children in the country suffer from autism and there is a lack of designated schools and institutions, this move by the government is praiseworthy. The government should make arrangements to provide care for such children. 

At the local level, activists and police should immediately intervene to rescue such children. After the rescue, the child's underlying condition should be examined, and support services should be provided accordingly. Many parents do not know how to provide care for their children, as they lack proper training, information and a support system. They often feel overwhelmed. When a child suffers an inhumane condition, it is not the failure of the family alone; it is the failure of all the state mechanisms.  Moreover, protecting and working for the welfare of the children is our collective responsibility and this particular incident should work as a wake-up call; the state should make special provisions for the protection of children with special needs.