In 1991, India and specifically
the resort state of Goa caught the attention
of the world
for all the wrong reasons. It was the first time the residents of
the laid-backed formed Portuguese colony read about Paedophile in the local and
international newspapers. On that day the small state in western India earned
notoriety for Sex
Tourism – a tag which it has not been able to wash itself.
Seven men were accused of sexually abusing downtrodden
children at an
orphanage run by co-accused Freddy Albert Peats in south Goa.
Of them, five are yet to stand trial in the case as Indian law enforcing
agencies have been battling against all odds to get the accuse extradited and
to stand trial in India.
The abuse had international links with the accuse hailing from countries
like Australia, New Zealand, England,
Sweden, France and Germany.
Peats'' accomplices were – E C Macbride (New
Zealand), Nils Oscar Johnson (Sweden),
Zell Jurgen Andress (Germany),
Raymond A Varley (UK) Dominique Sebire (France) and Werner Wulf Ingo (Australia).
Ingo, was the only one
successfully extradited to India and was sentenced to 10- years rigorous imprisonment by an Indian court last year.
The Australian, was found guilty and convicted on charges of sodomy,
unnatural sex with minors, abduction and criminal conspiracy. He was charged
under Sections 363, 367 and 377 of the Indian penal Code (IPC) read
with Section 120(b) of the IPC.
Earlier, Peats — 81 years old when he died two years back was convicted
on March 21, 1996 and sentenced to life imprisonment and died while undergoing
his sentence.
Others co-accuse were not in India or had made good their escape
with the arrest of Peats.
Even after completing 17-years the Indian law enforcement agencies are
finding it increasingly difficult to extradite the foreign nationals who had
committed the crime in India
All have remained elusive from the Indian law enforcing agency even after the help of
Interpol was sough in the matter, says Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) Director
Vijay Shanker.
The CBI, the centralized investigating agency - bogged down as it is
with the case has sought to adopt a new approach to bring the elusive foreign
nationals to stand trial.
The agency is trying to get a system in place to get the accused
indicted and tried in the domiciliary country.
CBI was forced to look for other options in order to see that Peats''
accomplices face trial in the case as India''s
effort to extradite the foreign nationals has been made increasingly difficult
by the unsupportive attitude adopted by the countries in extraditing the
foreign nationals accused of committing crimes in India say officials of CBI.
The CBI has now sent relevant case paper documents to the law enforcing
agencies from where the accuse are based, so that the accused can be tried in their
respective countries.
Goa, a flourishing tourism trade centre
has been over the years trying to check the menace of Sex Tourism and has put
in place legislation to curb it.
With increasing pressure from NGO and social activists, Goa formed a
model law- Goa’s Children Act - an unique
piece of legislation and has since established a Children''s Court.
The legislation has specifically made any cases of abuse non-bailable
offences under section 2 (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.
The Goa Children''s Act has tough punitive measures against offenders.
The fines and jail terms are—Rs 100,000 with imprisonment between one to three
years for sexual assault and incest, and Rs 200,000 with seven to 10 years jail
term in case of a grave sexual assault.
The Children''s Court to try all offences against children is another
step prescribed by the Goa law. A
child-friendly court procedures are also ensured in this Act to minimize the
trauma that abused children are subject to ogo through the case
hearing.
The act which seeks to make Goa as a
Children friendly state, has placed an onus of societal responsibility on
different sections, in preventing child sex abuse.
The hotel owners, the photo studios, cyber cafe operators, the police,
the tourism department and all those involved in the travel and tourism trade
are expected have a role to play in curbing the menace.
So far three cases were tried under the new act but all of them ended in
acquittal.
And with tourist arrivals in the country rising over the years
international agencies have warned of the menace spreading to other areas.
Carmen Madrinan, executive director of the NGO End Child Prostitution,
Child Pornography, and the Trafficking of Children (ECPAT), and an
international expert in the Child sex tourism issue has said the child sex
industry in India had spread
from its traditional hubs in Goa and Kerala
and is gaining momentum in places like Tamil Nadu and Orissa.