The news which hit headlines recently uprooted the trees of the centuries-old belief that womanhood and motherhood is the paradigm of compassion. Recently a woman beat her 7 seven-year-old stepdaughters and broke her hands not once but several times. If that was not enough she inserted a sharp stick in her anus and due to the injury, her rectum and urinary bladder became a single sector. The cruelty came out after two years. The child’s mother had eloped with someone leaving her child behind. Abortion is considered a sin but it would have been better if she had ended the unfortunate life inside the womb itself. The child’s plight crushed my heart. I looked at my daughter. What will I do if someone did this to my daughter? Why wasn’t there anyone to call 1098.
Are we aware of 1098?
About a month back we were astounded by the news of a Facebook page featuring minor girls for trafficking. If we believe the police’s version, the family behind this atrocity used their own child. This did not surprise me surprisingly. I prepared myself to hear the worst after the news of a father who raped his child repeatedly and sold her to the customers.
These are all just a peripheral part of reality. If we ponder, we will face a different world where precious motherhood and fatherhood become a joke.
Suppose a family decides to adopt a child to quench their unrelenting desire to pamper a child. They will have to toil their life to get past the formalities. The close monitoring of the child welfare team assures that the child is safe and sound in the hands of his/her surrogate parents. Who will monitor a child’s predicament in their own home? Who will make sure that they are safe?
We have committees and organizations that make sure that no one hurts stray dogs. But no one wants to take the pain to pester into the crevices of the brutal audacious reality faced by a child behind closed doors. No one cared to call 1098
Just because they donated sperm or egg, will they own the right to crush the zygote, which took a human form?
We have heard the stories of children who called the police and turned in their parents in foreign countries just because they scolded them. We might have said “what anarchy? How will we discipline a child without punishment?” But who sets the limit of punishments? Who will monitor the lives of these poor souls?
There are parents who pamper their children and treat them as if they don’t belong to this planet. I would not concur with their policy as well. They are equally blamable for spoiling their child’s ability of discretion. Being a mother myself, these scenarios leave me wondering how I would channel my child’s thoughts and actions in the right way. Every child is different. Some can be corrected by telling stories, some can be corrected by sulking. Some by scolding, some by slight beating but what else could be done? We have seen awareness centers and counseling centers pop up like mushrooms in the monsoon. Why don’t we make sure that they get proper awareness from time to time to the parents as well as children?
If you cannot provide awareness, please ensure that they get protection. Please don’t turn blind eye to child abuse. Physical, Sexual, or psychological. If you come across something do react without giving it a second thought. If you don’t want to involve and if you want to live your life free of these hassles, at least call 1098. That poor girl suffered for years, let no other have a similar experience.
