Devils at your Door

A week back I was sitting in the waiting area of a popular pediatrician’s clinic with my 3 year old niece. This clinic is located in a very popular hospital in the Clifton vicinity and is always crowded. I was waiting and trying to entertain my niece who was very upset at being taken to the doctors. A little girl of around 5 years old comes to me and smiles at me. I couldn’t help noticing what a cute little angel she was. She extended her hand to me which I shook and then she very clearly said “Aunty mujhe uncle ne mara”. I assumed she was talking about the people who had accompanied her there and I asked her who had hit her to which she pointed to her genital area and said “mujhe uncle ne idhar mara”. I looked around for her guardians and I saw a man coming towards us, he came and took her away. I saw him walk towards a woman standing in the corner who was crying silently It made me wonder what had happened and why the girl had said what she had.
A little while later my niece went over to where the girl was standing and I walked over to the couple to get her. I smiled at the woman and told her what an adorable daughter she had which only made her cry more. I couldn’t help asking what happened to which she told me something that sent shivers down my spine. This little girl was molested by their driver. He had taken her to the servant room and had tried to force himself on her in the absence of her parents. She didn’t provide any further details and I was left there standing speechless.
I am pretty sure that incidents like these happen every day in our so called elite society but they are never brought to light, are not considered very important to talk about and most commonly are buried to avoid embarrassment and questions. What people don’t realize is that by bringing these incidents to light we are actually trying to put a stop on them happening in the future. Many of us read and hear about these incidents in print media, blogs, word of mouth and just shake our heads with a tut tut and “oh how sad”. The question we should be asking ourselves is what we are doing to prevent such incidents from happening.
The worst part is that we as a society are a contributor to these hideous crimes. We have becomes so “Status Conscious” that leaving children with servants has actually become a status symbol. How many times have we seen children outside shopping malls with drivers and servants waiting in the car, or how many times do we see children being left at home with servants so that their moms and dads can go out and socialize. I have seen pregnant women worrying about finding the right “chota” to look after their new born child. Why do we even consider having children when we cannot take care of them ourselves.
I have no sympathy for parents who cry and repent once such an incident occurs. Were they blind before that they could not see what is going on right under their noses? Why did they even bother giving birth to children when they could not take care of them? I remember seeing a young mother shopping in Sunday Bazaar with her servant carrying her daughter behind her. Every 5 mins the male servant would kiss the girl on her lips. God knows what sick pleasure that man must be deriving from this act of his but the mother was completely oblivious to this and was busy with her shopping.
Abusing a child sexually can result in both short term and long term damage. It can lead to poor self esteem, psychological disorders, behavior issues and worst of all turning them into child abusers themselves. I keep thinking about the little girl in the hospital, will she ever be able to forget the uncle who had hit her? Would she ever be able to feel confident about herself or her surroundings? Many a times the abusers blackmail children into silence and continue with acts of abuse by threats of telling their parents or by locking them in a room or by taking away their favourite toys. Children being the innocent things they are continue to silently get tortured and abused and the blind parents never know.
I am hundred percent sure that after reading my article people will only shake their heads and say this is so sad and then forget about it the next minute. We need to act and we need to act now. We should stop being dependant on servants and letting our children being given in their hands and leaving them to satisfy their sick minds. I shudder to think what that driver must have had in his mind when he was trying to satisfy his sick desires on an innocent little girl.
We need to stop focusing on our so called “Status quo” and start building a better future for our children. Having a child is not simply making sure they are fed, dressed and sent to school, It means we are completely responsible for their proper upbringing to turn them into confident and responsible adults.
Today this is just a girl you are reading about in my article. Tomorrow it can be one of your own children. Act now before its too late.