While on her way from Katunayaka to Medawchchiya after working several years in a Middle Eastern country, she dreamt about being able to see the loving face of her daughter. Her eyes suddenly caught a cracked tank bed which was among those multiple landscapes she passed while on her journey in the bus.

“It is virtually akin to the bottom of my heart,” She thought. This woman has not had an opportunity to have conversations over the phone, either with her daughter or husband for a considerable time in the recent past.

“No matter, within a few hours I will cradle her to my bosom and I can see how my daughter’s face lights up when she sees all the presents I bought for her,” she thought.

Her eyes were struck by the unexpected sight of her humble dwelling at the very moment she reached. Several attempts were made by calling her daughter as well as her husband to open the door, but failing which she realized there was no one inside. It was completely deserted.

“Don’t worry, they are both in a safe place” said a neighbour.

“Who ?…father and daughter ?” she asked.

“No, the damsel and her baby. That dirty brute is in prison.”

This innocent mother became confused and was unable to sort out what ha happened.

Her 15 years old daughter now lives in an orphanage with her grand daughter. The man who was said to have been imprisoned is the father of both.

After expectations fell apart she was compelled to accept both her daughter and grand child from the relevant probation officers under the courts permission and shifted her residence to a further remote area in order to evade disgrace.

The Department of Probation and Child Care of the North Central Province have in its records a plethora of such incidents. B. D. N. Muthugala, the Commissioner of Probation (CP) states that his department is engaged in taking action through various steps to minimize them. Following are the excerpts an interview he had with GroundView.

“These incidents are due to the legally permissible age of marriage, which has aggravated most of these incidents. Sexual relationships are not permitted with a girl under 16 years of age even with her consent. If so perpetrated it is treated as an offense of rape. But girls between 16 and 18 years are able to have sexual relationships with their consent although the marriages are allowed to be legally registered only after 18 years of age. There are no legal barriers to prevent them from living together with a male partner.

Most of our villagers are ignorant of this complexity. We have come across many who say, “We got married at 14 and have about seven or eight children, but no problems.”

Some of them have even been forced to get coupled. But if the girl is under 16, the male partner may be punishable for an offense of rape. Although the registrations are not allowed, no legal action could be taken against living together provided the female partner is between 16 and 18 years of age. However, the mothers with children who come under this category and face desertions do not have any solutions. Without resorting to a DNA examination through a case filed in the District Courts, paternity could not be proved.

Unless the consent of a relevant party is obtainable such examinations too would be impossible.

There is another case in our orphanage of a 17 year old girl who came from a remote village. She was deserted by the father of her infant.

I am of the view that there should be a chronological change in the age permissible for registration of marriages. Non existence of clarity in the law may pave the way for further adverse situations. A considerable amount of problems such as cases of suicide, abortion, depression, deterioration of education, and difficulties in obtaining birth certificates are common. More than 35 percent of the maintenance cases that we handle are relevant to those who are under 18.

GV: Is there any law that you suggest should be amended?

CP: Under the Children’s Ordinance, those accused under 18 years are allowed to be transported together with adult prisoners. But nowadays all are indiscriminately being transported in prison vehicles.

In the Plonnaruwa district there was a child victim. The father was the accused. Ultimately the father was imprisoned and the child was handed over to an orphanage. The child is presently attending school with an expectation to sit for the coming O’ level examination while staying in the orphanage. On a subsequent occasion the father was released on bail. Now the child is compelled to go in the prison vehicle with other prisoners as before, whenever she is due to be present before the courts, whereas the accused has his freedom to travel in ordinary buses.

In another case three children became companions of a woman who had close connections in drug trafficking. An attempt was made by the woman to convince these children to escape from their orphanage was hampered since the matron called 119.

GV: Isn’t there an alternative to the prison vehicle for transportation of these children?

CP: That is the problem. We are now in the process of looking for an alternative.

GV: Is it appropriate to hear the cases relating to minors in open courts in your view?

CP: I think it is not appropriate with regard to some cases. Under these circumstance the

Magistrate reserves one full day or half a day as appropriate, for such cases

from this year onwards.

GV: Is there any difficulty to expedite and finish such cases soon?

CP: That is what we are attempting to do. Children from the north and east are also in our

orphanage. Some are charged with offences varying from minor things such as

stealing a bundle of ‘beedi’ to terrorist activities.

GV: What is the responsibility of the police with regard to this?

CP: There are some activities of the police too, which need correction. In terms of the ordinance it should be notified to probation officers as soon as any child is taken into custody.

Police are always concerned about the law whereas the probation officers look at social aspects. There were some instances where innocent victims have been compelled

to mingle with corrupt individuals while in the cells of remand. We are at present looking for ways to solve this problem. We have also had similar bitter experiences in the recent past. Once we had to accept some Buddhist novices who came to the police seeking help, as a result of an inadvertent action taken by the police by producing them to courts with a ‘B’ report. We faced immense difficulties since we did not have appropriate facilities to accommodate them. The mistake was made by the police since it is with an ‘A’ report that those who have been subjected to any injustice should be produced in courts. We have discussed with senior Police officials in order to find ways to avoid such unfortunate circumstances. I am of the view that there should be special

court for the cases relating to minors.

GV: What is your opinion with regard to the statistics of child abuse in the North Central

Province?

CP: Generally, about 275 such cases are being reported in Anuradhapura alone annually.

In Polonnaruwa it is about 75. This may increase exceeding 300 in Anuradhapura

because the people’s trend towards making complaints without reluctance is now

high, due to their awareness. Rajanganaya, Nochchiyagama, Thambuththegama, Galnewa, Wilachchiya, and Medawachchiya are the areas from where most of such complaints are being reported.

GV: Is expatriation of mothers the sole reason for this?

CP: It is not although it is true that the risk is more when the mothers are away. But the number of victims of unsuspected persons who are close to relevant families where both parents are available, is higher than that.

GV: What do you think about the availability of relevant statistics?

CP: That is also one of the tasks that we are presently faced with.We have already

collected data covering a period of five years on the divisional basis of Provincial

Secretaries as well as the Grama Niladharies.

GV: Is that the reasons for such incidents to be investigated using such data?

CP: Not only that. We use them for our analysis of the situation in order to find

solutions as well as to direct the service of voluntary organizations to those in need.

Number of incidents varies on seasonal basis too. Increasing trend within farming

areas is more during harvesting seasons, since the parents use to leave children either

alone or with known parties when they were engaged in farming activities. Therefore

educating people is also an important aspect of the programme.

GV: Do you have an adequate number of officers to carry out the programme?

CP: For the entire North Central province, we have only nine officers. This number is not

enough at all. New recruitments are also not permitted. Presently, the Minister of

Health of the province is contemplating on having this job done by employing non

probation officers.

GV: Do you think that all such cases could be solved in this way?

CP: The subject of probation and child care has been decentralized to the maximum. So the provincial council has powers to prepare a charter on subjects such as children’s

homes. At least by that way, the unavailable resources should be procured. Whatever

the amount of money brought into the province by these voluntary organizations, they

are awkwardly allocated. I am not even satisfied with the District Children’s Committee. There should be a law to cover these things. We are prepared to sign MOUs with any organizations, that is prepared to put forward a good mechanism for these activities. What is most difficult is changing the attitudes of various people connected to the subject in making room for innovations.

Srath Manula Wickrama-Anuradhapura.