Chandigarh
3 April 2019
DIVYA AZAD
Women Cell, DAV College, Sector 10 organised a sensitisation lecture on Incest for the students and faculty members. “BELL THE CAT” as the event was called, was aimed to create awareness about Incest, it’s shockingly high prevalence and incidence. Ms Supreet Dhiman emphasised on the need to come forward, report the cases of Incest and bell the perpetrators. She also touched upon all the dynamics related to incest abuse, through effective presentation of numerous case studies. She also bursted a lot of myths related to incest. Data supported by research indicated that 1 in 5 people has been a victim of incest and also that as much is the incidence of the perpetrators in a family. She highlighted the risk that our young boys and girls are exposed to, at our homes. Ms Dhimant also informed the audience about the right ways to approach and address the victims of incest.
This was followed by an interaction with an eminent advocate Ms. Tanu Bedi, who informed the audience about various provisions available in the IPC, to address the cases of incest. She provoked a lot of young audience to try to think about the change in mindset of the offender, the society and the victim, so that only punitive approach should be complemented with rehabilitation and a real change of mindset. She highlighted the need to have a transformative synergy between law and mental health professionals.
The students actively participated in the deliberations.
Principal Dr Pawan Sharma called upon the students to proactively become ambassadors of change to curb this menace. This was one of the first endeavours in the region to address the devil of incest and break the veil of silence that still persists. The idea was extremely appreciated by the participants.
