Child abuse: Parents on alert

With incidents of child abuse on the rise, parents are becoming cautious and making sure that they educate their children.

Meera picks up her 12-year-old daughter Rashne from school everyday. Two incidents of abuse reported a few days ago seems to have shattered the faith of parents.

In Jaipur a principal raped one of his students in school, and in Faridabad a girl was stripped in class for not paying fees.

"It's not just the school, it could be anyone -- your friends or neighbours -- molestors can come in any form. So I do trust my school but I talk to my daughter so if anything happens she will tell me," Meera said.

For Meera the answer lies in educating her child, so just in case things goes wrong she gets to know. But what about the responsibility of school and the government?

According to the National Commission for Child Rights (NCCR), not just the schools but all public institutions should have a system in place that checks child abuse.

"We have guidelines for corporal punishment and it's our duty to work on this. So far the commission hasn't worked on this, but it should," said Shanta Sinha from NCCR.

A system that induces fear instead of courage in children needs to be changed together by the authorities and the families.