To cope with the kidnap menace, strict rules have been implemented in schools with the support of parents.
Graded English Medium School (GEMS) at Dhapakhel, Lalitpur has introduced an arrangement under which parents escort their children to and from the respective bus stops or else get the help of a teacher or bus conductor to do so.
“This can be a promising step,” says Soni Joshi, a parent. “If a teacher or a responsible person drops the children home, that surely is much safer.”
Besides that, the school authorities bring a student back to the school if the guardian or family member who is to escort the child to and from the bus stop does not show up there.
But schools can only do so much to check the menace.
“Criminals rule the roost in the country, obviously to make money. I think the government should also take the initiative by enacting stringent laws and punishing culprits severely,” says Rasmira Lama, principal of Delight School, Mahalaxmisthan. “The steps taken by schools are just not enough to put students in the safety zone.”
Police officials, however, say school authorities can do more by making sure there isn´t a potential kidnapper lurking in the school.
“Action taken by the schools is commendable. What schools can do in addition is check if any teacher they are appointing has a criminal record,” says Superintendent of Police Nawaraj Silwal of Kathmandu Metropolitan Range Office.
While the schools might have adopted measures to keep students free of danger, some parents have given up their jobs for the sake of their children´s security.
“I drop and pick up my children from school myself, although I had to give up my job in order to do that,” says Anjana Shrestha, a parent whose two children study at DAV. She has also arranged for her older child to walk home with a group of other students for safety.
Schools like Rato Bangala and DAV have issued parents identity cards or gate passes that can be of help to the school guards.
“If a parent brings the pass with his/her child´s picture on it, we send child with the parent. Of course, the children also identify their parents. This, however, is risky for toddlers,” says a guard at DAV school.
Schools have also decided to call up a student´s home if a stranger appears to pick up that child.
“We call the parents to make sure that the right person has come to pick up the child,” the guard adds.
Police, during their visits to schools, have been teaching students not to trust strangers, and not to consume any edibles given by them.
There have been at least seven reported cases of child kidnapping, attempted kidnapping or murder after kidnapping, in Kathmandu since 2006.
The cases include those of eight-year-old Bibek Luitel in 2006, Sonali Kumari Singh in 2007, three-year-old Bom Malla in 2007, Sanjay Katuwal in 2008, Prasan Shah in 2008, 10-year old Monica Piya Shrestha in 2009 and 12th grader Khyati Shrestha in 2009. Many more cases went unreported, police say.
In the year 2007-2008 alone, 1,964 children disappeared around the country, according to Balbalika Khojtalash Kendra of Nepal Police. Of them, 804 are still missing.
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