Complaints of child neglect and abandonment, along with physical and psychological abuse, are increasing, the National Child Protection Authority says.
Attorney-at-Law Sajeewani Abeykoon, Director of Law Enforcement at the NCPA, said the authority receives between 600 and 1,000 complaints each month.
Penalties under the Penal Code
Abeykoon said that under the Penal Code, parents found guilty of such offences may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment ranging from a minimum of two years to a maximum of ten.
Hiru News, reporting the same NCPA statement, described the complaints as covering physical and psychological indecent treatment alongside neglect and abandonment.
Context
The NCPA is the statutory body responsible for coordinating child protection work in Sri Lanka, operating a national complaints line and referring cases to police and the courts. A monthly caseload of 600 to 1,000 complaints implies an annual total in the range of 7,000 to 12,000.
The authority’s caution follows a series of individual cases that have drawn public attention this month, among them a four-year-old girl found abandoned in Wattegama.
The NCPA did not publish a breakdown of the complaint categories or a comparison figure for earlier periods.
