In the wake of the kidnapping attempt at a Mapusa school last week, parents of school-going children have raised the issue of insufficient security at school premises and have demanded immediate installation of CCTV cameras around educational institutes in order to prevent such brazen crimes against children.
It must be said that though CCTVs can act as a deterrent to kidnapping, it cannot entirely prevent such crimes from occurring.
In such cases prevention should be of prime concern. It is pertinent to note that a kidnapping case may not occur forcefully and hence may not be easily detected by those around. The modus operandi used by the kidnappers is to convince the student that they have been sent by the parents to collect them from school.
The innocent mind of the child will not be able to suspect the person and hence accompany the kidnapper in the vehicle. This can be prevented by each family having a password or a code number which is to be given to the student. The student should ask the stranger offering a lift for the password/code number. If the stranger cannot mention the password/code number, the students should raise an alarm so that the kidnapper is caught by the public.
ADELMO FERNANDES, VASCO
