Question : Complaints of Children against Mothers

whether any incidents have come to light during the last five years in which some women have tortured their own children physically and mentally and tried to implicate them in criminal cases by lodging false complaints against them in police and some police personnels were also involved in these cases;
(b) if so, the number of such incidents reported to the Government since 2015, State-wise and district-wise especially in Uttar Pradesh;
(c) whether there is any system for taking action against such criminal women and protecting innocent children;
(d) if so, the details thereof along with the number of complaints received by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in this regard, district-wise during the last five years; and
(e) the steps taken by the Government to protect such children who are half deranged and are victims of frequent intimidation and torture at the hands of their own mother in the said case?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (e) No specific incidents have come to the notice of Ministry. However, Section 2(14) (vi) and (iii) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), defines children in need of care and protection (CNCP) including the children who resides with a person (whether a guardian of the child or not) and such person:-

(a) has injured, exploited, abused or neglected the child or has violated any other law for the time being in force meant for the protection of child; or

(b) has threatened to kill, injure, exploit or abuse the child and there is a reasonable likelihood of the threat being carried out; or

(c) has killed, abused, neglected or exploited some other child or children and there is a reasonable likelihood of the child in question being killed, abused, exploited or neglected by that person.



The Act provides for protection of children in need of care and protection and those in conflict with law by catering to their basic needs through care, protection, development and social re-integration. It puts into place standards of care and protection to secure the best interest of the child. Under Section 75 of the JJ Act, whoever, having the actual charge of, or control over a child, assaults, abandons, abuses, exposes or wilfully neglects the child or causes or procures the child to be assaulted, abandoned, abused, exposed or neglected in a manner likely to cause such child unnecessary mental or physical suffering, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine of one lakh rupees or with both. The primary responsibility of execution of the Act lies with the States/UTs.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing a centrally sponsored scheme i.e. “Child Protection Services” (CPS) (erstwhile Integrated Child Protection Scheme) for providing financial assistance to State Governments/UT Administrations, with the primary objective of care and protection of children in distress conditions through institutional and non-institutional care. The primary responsibility of implementation of the Scheme lies with the State/UTs. It also aims at reduction of vulnerabilities to situation and actions that lead to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation of children from parents.
In order to reach out to all the children in difficult circumstances, the scheme provides support for an emergency outreach service, for children in distress through a dedicated toll free number i.e., 1098 which is being accessed by childline for children in crisis or by adults on their behalf.

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