Child Abuse… ‘something which shall not be discussed…’

India is supposed to be a ‘sacred’ country and often the word sacred is misinterpreted as scared… we are scared…  Scared to revolt… Scared to raise our opinion… Scared to discuss about sex (but definitely not scared to rape)… Scared of god… Scared of people in power… Scared of voodoo… Scared of talking about touchy subjects like domestic violence, Child abuse, Child marriage, Dowry, Female infanticide…

Lately empowerment has resulted in stray cases being reported to the law enforcement bodies in India and in some cases they also see the light of media. In fact when I was in kerala about a month back was really astonished to find out an entire page in the local newspaper dedicated to crime.. rapes.. killing child abuse.. really astonished to see two things there..

1.       Media willing to dedicate an entire page for a non commercial social issue.. (yeah.. surprising isn’t it??)

2.       The amount of crime happening these days

Child abuse is one area where I have been exposed to in my life at different stages … aye not on me.. but to people I know - close friends and in family too.  And it sometimes makes me wonder how the priorities differ and how close ones can turn a blind eye instead of fighting your fight. And the excuse is that it will pass.. it will be over soon.. the fact they don’t realize is that how it leaves a lasting mark on somebody.. how it haunts them over and over again.. how it destroys their hope for a better life.. some even resort to violence when they grow older and stronger.. some resort to suicide.. some find solace in wrong company…. And yes some are lucky who get a brighter future…

Why does it go unnoticed.. or uninformed why?? Because it is an ewww topic… chi chi chi why would I talk about it.. and when brought to some else’s attention.. the sad response.. ‘no beta they are just being friendly…’ situation has sometimes gone to an extent where the elder sibling keeps mum to save the younger sibling.. and it just destroys the soul of that person.. Sadly they lost all the hope for a normal life and feels & believes that eventuality will be brutal and nothing good can happen in their life.. all good things need to come to an end.. if not will themselves end it before it hurts more..  Days, months , years have passed but it still makes them cry.. makes them vulnerable.. makes them heartless and make them scared..!!!

A child is the most unadulterated and purest form of a human being.. they don’t know to lie.. they don’t know to act.. all that they know is to change.. And at times change in to monsters they have seen when they grow or into worms stuck in their cocoons afraid to get out and fly because of those very same monsters... Why can’t the elders believe and help, is it because of the lack of trust in a young mind which they themselves have curtailed these children from, identifying right from wrong.. not sharing and not enlightening facets of life which are a part of Scared India more than the Incredible India that we like to talk about.

It’s come to a point where today, I feel I need to stand up for this cause and may be a minority but still a cause. Its high time we stand up against this.. stop it before it ruins.. help a friend.. help a sibling.. help any one who is put through this is.. and if already suffered please give them hope for a better future.