the goan I network
MARGAO
Making an impassioned plea to the political parties not to politicize the missing victim girl case, women’s rights activist Auda Viegas has urged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to set up an after-care home for children in need of care and protection for safety and shelter.
While appreciating the Chief Minister for issuing immediate directions to the Goa police after the case of the missing girl was reported from a South Goa-based rehabilitation centre, Auda pointed out vulnerable young girls, who are victims of abuse, need a safe environment to prevent them from being approached by perpetrators to force them to turn hostile in court.
In a letter dashed off to the Chief Minster, the women and children’s rights activist said the victim in the instant case is in danger as it is a high profile case involving a politician. “To prevent this from happening, the state is duty-bound to protect the victim,” Auda told the media, while observing that the police have been doing the best to trace the girl.
Saying that Goa does not have an after-care home for victims of abuse (sexual/exploitative/physical), Auda said she trusts the Chief Minister to set up one such home, with counselling and other skill development facilities to heal the wounds of abuse inflicted on the minds of minor children and prepare them to step back into society.
“In my experienced opinion, the victim is totally shattered after a sexual abuse and in the case of the missing girl, who has been showing signs of depression, it is the duty of the state to prevent her from falling prey to abduction, kidnap or being lured into risky behaviour,” she said.
While requesting the Chief Minister to conduct a thorough probe into the matter of her disappearance, Auda has urged Sawant to set up the after-care centre to prepare the victims to face life till they complete 18 years up to the time they depose in the court. “She being the main witness in the case, she has to be kept in a safe environment,” she said, while saying that the government has to take the safety and protection of women and children of the state as a serious commitment
and responsibility.
