Prevention is better than cure

By N Sathiya Moorthy

Reports of consensual sex involving over 5,000 girls under 16 (hence ‘legal rape) in just one police division, Kandy, should be a cause for serious national concern. The fact that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has sought further information in the matter, obviously for possible corrective measures that the government could initiate could only be a welcome first step.

First and foremost, these are documented cases that a Kandy lawyer had collected from police records in Kandy division. Two, these pertain to a period before last year’s economic crisis, 2018-21. Hence, it could not be misrepresented as an unwelcome consequence of the fiscal crisis that might have tempted or encouraged devious men to lure those young children by offering cash, food or other goodies that were in short supply in their homes.

If such was the case, looking at it from those undeserving children’s angle, it could have been a sacrifice that they did not understand, if only to help their families. In such a case, their only crime was their gender, in the choice of which they had played no role since their mothers conceived them.

It may be recalled that at the height of the economic crisis last year, social media posts claimed that circumstances had forced many migrant women labour who had taken up small jobs at low pay in capital Colombo into taking to prostitution. Their posts were drowned in the cacophony of the Aragalaya protests, which drew greater international attention.

There was no independent study or confirmation if such posts were genuine and true. The otherwise alert national media (whatever the language) was either too busy with the political developments and the protests, or were very conscious and conscientious about not writing anything – including denials – that would depreciate the nation’s social standing in the eyes of their international colleagues who were swarming the capital and the rest of the country for all kinds of negative news. Negative news sold, and at times negative news alone sold.

Unreported cases

It is however unclear if the President’s inquiry with the Kandy lawyer would lead to the government constituting a formal inquiry into the matter, and if it would cover the entire nation. If so, what would and could be the final outcome of such an inquiry or investigation would be too early to guess at this stage. That is assuming that the probe, if ordered, would lead to a report.

The question again is if it would be a police probe, as even consensual sex involving those below 16 would be a criminal offence, and the perpetrators could still be arraigned before the law. Even taking the documented cases in Kandy as an example, it would be interesting, rather informative, to know if there are repeated offenders – that is if the same guy had lured more young girls than one, and if he was related to any or all of them, and what was the price.

There is also the inevitable fact that for every incident reported to the police, there could be one or many that may have gone unreported. But the girls involved in them too are victims, and any recommendatory measure should be applicable to them. It could well be in the form of psychiatric counsellor services, apart from formal cash compensation for the victims and their families.

Numerical inadequacy

Yet, the guilty men should be punished. But the question is if the system is tuned for it, and is attuned to it, too. According to news reports, the ongoing police action against criminal gangs operating across the country may have choked the already over-crowded prisons across the country.

News reports have said that around 10,000 persons have been arrested thus far, and more could fall into the net when the police resume the act after a week-long break during the Christmas, New Year week.  It is not as if criminal gangs will be allowed to operate during the period. Instead, it is a telling statement on the inadequacy of the police force, in terms of numbers and other resources.

Even without it, there have been occasional reports about the numerical inadequacy of the police force contributing to courts granting bail to arrested criminals. The courts cannot be blamed for it. In the absence of enough police personnel for accompanying remanded prisoners to the courts on the days previously fixed by the courts, after a time, the judiciary finds itself caught in a web.

No government in the past several years seems to have addressed the shortage of police personnel across the board. It is also an area where the government could open up more jobs for the youth, both men and women. Compared to many other areas in the government sector, the money spent on creating more policing jobs could be well spent.

Removing institutional and time pressures on the force and individual personnel could in turn lead to better policing in every which way. At what levels should such posts be created, if the government is agreeable to the same, requires a detailed study, from within.

Branded tourism

To identify and arrest dozens and dozens of rapists of innocent girls, even if it is consensual sex on record, thus require more policemen and jail-space. To arrest them all first, only for them to walk out of prison with a bail-order, is not just on. It is worse than a wounded, blood-tasty wild animal on the prowl.

At the moment, the government does not seem to be considering such questions. At least, reports of the President’s Office making preliminary enquiries about the Kandy case does not seem aimed at taking a holistic view of the justice delivery system in the country – rather about the facilitating processes and resources. Justice and delivery of Justice comes only at the other end of the long pipeline, which starts with the police.

Yet, prevention is better than cure. It is also the better part of cure, and that cannot be delayed. Barring resource allocation and appropriate utilisation, it could be addressed early on. It has to begin with educating children, especially female children, and encouraging them to speak up (to their parents) and fight back (the predator).

Can schools be where it could all begin? The government may not be able to ensure psychiatric counsellors for every female child in the country, but can it organise weekly/monthly counselling sessions for female kids in every school? How about giving periodic training to every teacher, particularly female teachers in every school, to become quasi-counsellors, who after identifying specific cases and getting them confirmed through the school system, can refer them to professional counsellors? And of course encourage parents of those girls to go to the police?

At a time when the nation has a long way to recover from the post-economic crisis trauma and the political class, starting with the incumbent political and bureaucratic administrators, are busying themselves with everything other than the basics, to expect them to be worried about future generations is too much. Sri Lanka has everything to lose and nothing to gain if such a course and direction are not arrested and reversed.

Already, there are nations elsewhere, especially in the South-East Asian neighbourhood – no offence meant – that are branded for tourism of a different kind that has become a well-paying industry and economic source in itself. Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans need to evaluate if they too want to go down that road or not. There is not too much time left.

(The writer is a Policy Analyst & Political Commentator, based in Chennai, India. Email: sathiyam54@nsathiyamoorthy.com)