Sexual Abuse - A rich man's stand

The recent incident of the rape of a 6 year old allegedly inside the school premises and by school staff has brought about all kinds of outrage in the society.  And as the norm, in social networking sites too. One comment in twitter struck me as a tad insensitive.

The person wrote, " I love how all of you are crying about the rape of a 6 year old. This is only because the parents are rich enough to outrage about it. "
I do hope she meant this in a way, that many children are getting raped liked this but no one comes to know it because they belong to lower strata of society or because their parents are not willing to take it to the police. But I feel even if that was the case , shouldn't a parent behave like this ideally? Wouldn't you want your parents to be in this manner if you were that 6 year old. Aaah... I just can't think of what must be going on in that little one's mind. But this tweet reminded me of an incident that happened in my college.

She was the daughter of a scientist, from a well-to-do and affluent family. One day she arrived in college a little earlier than usual. And since it was term reopening, every one was just getting back from their hometowns. We had all just reached back and were standing at the gate of the college when she came running down the stairs with tears in her eyes. She came and hugged her bf and wouldn't stop crying. We were all a bit worried, since in Kerala, public display of affection is "not accepted". We thought she had missed her bf through the holidays and hence the tears and the hug. But soon we realised that it was not that. She was sobbing uncontrollably. Everyone was asking her what happened. But she dint say a thing. Then when she was a bit calm, she and her bf moved to a quite corner and she told him what had happened. Next we see him , teeming with anger run up the stairs. The boys followed him while the girls tried to console her. She called her dad and they came to pick her up in 10 minutes. All of us were getting really wrecked up thinking what had just happened. I went up to the classroom and spoke to the bf. He had manhandled a peon in the college office. When I asked him if he had lost his mind. He said that the peon had sexually abused her. I was dumb struck. Because the person in question was a 59 year old man, father to 3 daughters. It was unbelievable to say the least but it was true.

Later I got a chance to speak to her bf in detail and he narrated the whole incident. She was sitting in the classroom when the peon came in and started talking to her. Suddenly he started groping her and kissing her by using force. She pushed him with all her might and ran downstairs.

Her father filed a complaint in the college the same day. But the Head was not so keen on punishing the accused. So her father took it directly to the University and the Police simultaneously. These words of the father is something I will never forget, "I know that this will cause a stir and make people look at me and my daughter in a bad way. But I don't care. If I, who is supposed to be a respected person, don't do anything about this then this man will go on to abuse someone else. I will not let that happen.  At least not in these premises, where you send your children to acquire an education". Many people tried to force him to hush the matter saying it is a matter of shame for everyone but he didn't change his stand. He stood his ground till the accused was punished and removed from the college. Later on, many of the girls in the senior batches recounted that they had been abused as well. But out of fear of social stigma, they hadn't uttered a word to another human being. So much is the fear.

So do you think that the father should not have used his power or wealth or whatever resources he had to get the accused the punishment he deserved. Should he have also kept quiet and continued with his life? And then make way for the accused to do more and more things like this. And believe me when small things go unpunished they just give way for bigger and bigger crimes. When people with the means fight the bad don't belittle them by saying things like this. What they are doing will only make our society a little bit more safer. Don't we want that? Don't we want our children and women to be able to walk without fear, no matter who ever takes the action for that?

CSAAM April 2014 - Best Friends Forever

It's that time of the year again when my usually computer allergic mom turns into a net savvy pc romping momma. I don't know what actually happens to her in March and April every year.
But I do remember it's during one of these times that she had explained to me about the bad touch. And does so every year. I think she has been telling me about it since I was 5. Now I am 9. Oh and my name is Riya. I dint quite understand it when she told me the first time. I was full of doubts. I would point out to each and every uncle on the road and ask Amma if he was a good person or not? I dint have a clue as to how I would know a bad person or a bad touch. Finally when I was 8, I started getting a better idea as to what Amma really wanted me to understand. And that was also because of my best friend Mia. Yeah..Our names are similar that was the first reason why we became friends in the 1st standard. But what strengthened our friendship was something else. Last year when Amma gave me the "bad touch" talk. I decided to show off and tell Mia all about it. So in one of the free periods I told Mia all about the bad touch. Mia's face just went blank. She looked as if someone had stolen her pencil plus eraser. I was like..uh oh...did I open my mouth a bit too much. Mia just went away without saying a word to me. Before I could ask her anything the Ma'am came. And then we didn't have a free period. The next day I asked Mia, what had happened. But she just looked at my face and didn't say a thing. I was getting scared now. I thought what if Mia told Ma'am about this. Me and my big mouth. I even blamed my Amma for this. It was hell for a week with Mia not talking to me and me sitting all scared as to when I would be called to the staff room. Finally I summoned all my courage and went to Mia and asked her to tell me what the problem was. To tell me why she was not talking to me. It was the sports period and luckily no one was in the class. She burst out into tears and told me about her neighbour uncle who comes to her house . She realised that he was doing something wrong only when I told her about the bad touch. I was sad and relieved at the same time. Sad to know that Mia was in trouble.  And relieved to know that I was not the cause. I told Mia that she should tell her parents immediately. Mia was very scared to tell them. She felt that they wouldn't believe her. I told her all that my Amma had told me. I tried my best to convince her. She finally said she'll try to tell them and made me promise that I wouldn't tell anyone. I gave in and promised her. Days passed into weeks and still Mia hadn't told her parents. I had almost given up. Finally the day of our first exam, Mia came up to me with a huge smile and kissed my hand and said you are my best friend forever. I was surprised. I asked her what happened. It seems that the neighbour uncle had come the previous day and this time when he tried to touch Mia in her private part, she screamed at the top of her voice (something that my Amma had told me and which I had told Mia). Her parents came running and then finally Mia told them all what had happened. Her parents scolded uncle and threatened to complain to the police if he comes near any child ever again. I was so happy and excited. I finally knew what all Amma wanted me to understand. It helped not only me but my best friend Mia too. Now we are Best Friends Forever.
This year I am going to tell Amma thanks for explaining the bad touch. Mia has told me it's okay to tell my mom.
I hope there was some way that all children in my school would know about this. So that no one is ever touched in a bad way.

DISCLAIMER: This is a piece of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.