Children's Right International (CRI) has expressed deep concern about the alarming rate at which children are being abused, maltreated and killed in the country in recent times. It said the increasing reported cases of child abuse such as molestation, ritual murders, defilement, trafficking among others, is a threat to the nation's future and there was the need for a concerted efforts by all stakeholders to halt it. A statement signed by Mrs Ophelia Antwi Boasiako, Ashanti Regional Co-ordinator of CRI and issued in Kumasi on Tuesday, cited the killing of an eight year old girl by a kenkey seller in Accra and said such a wicked act by Hagar Sakar, the perpetrator, should not be allowed to go unpunished. The statement said Sakar had demonstrated a callous act, as an elderly woman, and called on the security agencies to apply all the necessary laws to deal with her. It expressed concern about the increasing number of defilement cases reported daily in the country and wondered whether the punishment given to culprits were not deterrent enough to curb it. According to the statement most children were also being subjected to all forms of hazardous labour, such as stone cracking, carrying of heavy loads and others, which affect the proper development and growth of the child. The statement said children were the most vulnerable and needs better affection, security, shelter, food and education that would accelerate their physical, social, mental and moral development for a better future. It called on parents to be more responsible and provide their children with their basic needs in order to prevent them from falling prey to abuses by unscrupulous people. Source: GNA