Child abuse:

NCPA urges capital punishment

Buddika IMBULANA and Chinta RANASINGHE

The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) is planning to make a proposal to the government to enact laws to impose capital punishment for those found guilty of child abuse.

Authority chairperson Anoma Dissanayake said that the Authority’s objective is to minimise instances of child abuse and enable the court to make it an accusation which never permits bail for the accused.

The chairperson said laws would be enacted to strengthen the activities of the Child Protection Authority in accordance with the statements on page 22 of the Mahinda Chinthana policy statement.

She added that prompt action was necessary in this regard as over 4,000 complaints of child abuse had been received by the authority during the past year alone.