Ukhrul: Capacity building for law enforcement officers on the prevention and effective investigation of Child Sexual Abuse and Human Trafficking took place on Thursday in Ukhrul.
Project Mukti, an anti-human trafficking initiative in collaboration with the district Police of Ukhrul and Kamjong, supported by ECPAT Luxembourg, organized a one-day training program on the prevention and effective investigation of trafficking in persons and child sexual abuse at the Police Reserve Line, Ukhrul on March 14, 2024.
The objective of the training was to enhance police responses in handling cases of human trafficking and child protection systems. A total of 52 Police officers representing 11 Police Stations, including AHTUs in both districts, attended the training.
Ringthing Hongchui, Additional Superintendent of Police (Operation), Ukhrul, and A Wungreiso Shangh, Project Officer at Project Mukti, were the resource persons for the program. Mr. Josiah Pamei MPS, Additional Superintendent of Police (Law and Order), Ukhrul, also attended the program.
Ringthing Hongchui elaborated on the various mechanisms and steps that police or investigation officers should follow while investigating crimes, especially in relation to human trafficking and POCSO cases. He emphasized the importance of chargesheets, their effective and timely preparation, and the need for a shift in understanding from a criminal-centric to a victim-centric approach. He also addressed the prevalence of cybercrime and how to address and resolve such cases at the local police station level. In his concluding speech, Ringthing stressed the need for such training to enhance knowledge and build capacities to adopt effective and innovative approaches to combat complex crimes like human trafficking and child sexual abuse.
A Wungreiso Shangh discussed the legal provisions and the role of police as mentioned in the rules of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. He also extensively covered various crimes against children, especially child sexual abuse, during the training program. He discussed various concepts related to human trafficking, its definition, intersectionalities, and provisions to prevent and protect victims of trafficking in persons. A short movie titled “Annie” was screened to provide a better understanding of trafficking in persons to the officials.
The training also included pre-training and post-training tests to assess the knowledge of the police officers on the training topics and what they learned after the training.
Project Mukti has been implemented in the state of Manipur since 2015 and has trained over 2000 law enforcement officials, including paramilitary forces, in the state to date.
About The Author
