New Delhi, September 6
The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) today released "Guidelines for Prevention of Child Abuse" which envisage creating a child abuse monitoring committee and presence of counsellors within schools.

Arun Mathur, chairperson of the DCPCR, mentioned that these guidelines have been put through a process of vigorous scrutiny and efforts made to ensure that they are not in conflict with any existing laws. The guidelines were also vetted by the programme head of the Centre for Child and the Law of National Law School, Bangalore, and suggestions made were suitably incorporated.

"The implementation of these guidelines would ensure that our children are provided a safe, protected and empowered environment," said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit while releasing the guidelines.

"Child sexual abuse is a cause for concern and I am sure that these guidelines will serve as a model for other states," she said.

The three stakeholders mention in the guidelines include the institution which houses, educates or provides facilities to the child, individual stakeholders who are in a position of trust and responsibility over the child and the overall community. They are meant to act as a watchdog and ensure that the silence around child abuse is broken.

The guidelines cover all aspects as to how the schools recruit their staff, create awareness among children so that they recognize suspicious behaviour and know how to report it, constitution of child protection policy by institutions, presence of counsellor in schools, child abuse monitoring committee within institutions, etc.

The guidelines have also taken note of the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (2012). They have their roots in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, and the Delhi Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2009.

New Delhi, September 6
A 74-year-old man was charred to death under mysterious circumstances in his residence in southeast Delhi's Greater Kailash area on Thursday night.

The deceased has been identified as Kapil Dev Anand. He ran a business in antiques and also owned a book shop.

He was found burnt on the second floor of his rented accommodation in Greater Kailash Part one. His wife, Guddi, stays separately with her daughter in Gurgaon. She claims that his death is not due to an accidental fire and alleges that the family of Anand's landlord set him on fire.

She said Anand had been a tenant for the past 40 years in a single room located on the second floor. She added that he paid a rent of Rs 185 at a court and the landlord wanted him to vacate the premises as the money was very less.