Bengaluru police wants psychological profiling of school employees

BENGALURU: The Bengaluru city police has recommended mandatory psychological profiling of school employees at the time of their recruitment, a move they believe could help prevent sexual crimes against children.

The police made the suggestion during a public consultation on the draft Karnataka State Child Protection Policy for Educational Institutions 2015 held here Friday.

The draft policy, the first for any Indian state, mandates that every employee in a school must undergo background verification by the police.

"In 99 per cent of cases we have registered and investigated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the accused did not have any criminal antecedents," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) M Chandrasekhar said. "There should be scientific psychological profiling before recruitment."

Bengaluru witnessed a series of sexual crimes against schoolgoing children last year, beginning with the rape of a six-year old in an east Bengaluru school that led to street protests. In the aftermath, then city police commissioner M N Reddi issued a 9-point guidelines for schools to follow, which included mandatory police screening of school employees.

"Police verification is a standard exercise. We get a name and we verify it in our records to see if that person was ever involved in a crime. Obviously, schools will not hire burglars or thieves. As it turns out, however, most of those involved in POCSO cases won't have any criminal background. So psychological profiling or assessment would add an additional layer of screening," Chandrasekhar said.

The city police have made two other recommendations on the draft policy - installation of surveillance cameras in schools and inclusion of police personnel in committees that review the implementation of the policy.

The draft policy, prepared by a team of experts, prescribes preventive and corrective measures to ensure no child is subjected to any form of physical or mental abuse. It lays down responsibilities of various stakeholders on what they have to do in the event that a child becomes a victim of abuse. Friday's consultation saw participation from schools and civil society.

Law Minister T B Jayachandra pointed out that the conviction rate in POCSO cases was low. "This is because of lack of evidence, and because nobody files follow-up complaints. There is also a need for investigators to make use of Section 164 under CrPC, so that a victim or witness can be taken to court for their statements to recorded immediately after commission of the crime. This statement cannot be changed, and would strengthen the case."

Noted child psychiatrist Dr Shekhar Seshadri from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience stressed on the need to streamline and make more child-friendly medico-legal processes. "How can we expect children to protect themselves when even adults can't prevent coercive abusers? The problem also lies in the fact that the adult-child relationship is often based on instruction, obedience and expectation. When children are brought up this way, how can they be expected to say no?" he added.