Date 12th
March-2014
A happy
care-free girl child girl lived with her parents who do farming. The father is hearing-impaired.
Due to financial constraints she studied only till 7th Std. and then
had to quit school when she was barely 13 years old.
At this
vulnerable stage she came into contact with a 26 year old man. He threatened
and cajoled her into a forcible sexual relationship and subsequently
blackmailed her for further sex. She soon became pregnant never realizing the
serious predicament till her mother noticed the seven month pregnancy in the 14
year old daughter. The mother finally persuaded the poor girl to narrate the
entire sordid story of sexual abuse.
The shocked
mother visited the boy’s home and tried to reason with them suggesting that
marriage with the pregnant girl was the only solution. The mother & son
asked for more time to sort out things. The boy then took away the girl to get
the pregnancy aborted. However, the doctor declined in view of the advance
stage of the pregnancy. Eventually during this harrowing ordeal, the girl
delivered the baby at home. And the baby girl became one year old. However the
father’s delaying tactics did not cease. Eventually the abused minor girl was
left holding a one year old baby daughter. The uncaring man finally refused
marriage point-blank.
The
frustrated girl finally sought police intervention. However the police
recommended that the victimized girl and the boy ought to compromise since they
both belong to the same caste, and refused to register a formal complaint.
The parents
of the girl finally approached “SPARK “for help. Spark is the group who work on
social issues. They follow-up with the local police for 3 days without any
progress. SPARK representatives finally contacted Child Line for help on 12th
March, 2014. Snehalaya’s ChildLine team (Hanif Shaikh, Sunil Mohite, Kalyani
Garud, Shahid Shaikh, Ajay Wable) went to Akole and met the SPARK group and
counseled the victim. They then met the local Police Inspector Mr. Khandre, who
requested more time saying that he is new on the job and would have to study
the case. Sunil Mohite finally called the Deputy Superintendent of Police Ms. Thakur
and requested her personal intervention to initiate quick action on this matter.
Mr. Khandre was in turn instructed to file the case based on the girl’s
statement. And the cruel child molester was arrested under IPC 376 and Protection
of Children from Sexual Offences Act- 2012’s Sec. 3 and 5. The girl was
provided shelter in the Snehalaya’s Snehankur project.