Activists want child alienation made a crime

Shimla, April 25 (IANS) Parent rights activists Friday demanded that the government should declare parent alienation of children of separated or divorced parents as a crime and prosecute those who try to alienate the non-custodial parents.

"We are demanding for gender-neutral laws and strengthen the existing laws to eliminate parental alienation of children," Bangalore-based Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP) founder president Kumar V. Jahgirdar told IANS over phone.

April 25 is observed as International Parental Alienation Awareness Day.

Jahgirdar said it was unfortunate that there were protection laws of abuse of street children but there was no adequate legal protection for children of separated parents.

Normally in matrimonial separation cases, one of the vindictive parents deprived the child of love, affection and care of the other parent. "This is another form of child abuse," he said.

Citing studies, Jahgirdar said that such children tend to become criminals later in life.

One of the measures suggested was banning child interviews, as it was found that custodial parent usually brainwashes the mind of the child against the non-custodial parent, Jahgirdar said.

He said shared parenting should be made mandatory and all child custody cases should be disposed off after trial within six months of application.

Bangalore-based child psychologist Savio Periara said the child abuse ranges from emotional blackmails to poisoning young minds against the non-custodial parent to severe reprimands, locking up and beating of children.

CRISP, with regional chapters in Delhi, Shimla, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Lucknow, said more than 25,000 divorce cases are pending in family courts in Bangalore alone.