Victims do not feel secure at Nirbhaya

 

The recent suicide attempt by three teenage girls and earlier attempts by other girls to escape from the home suggest that the psychological health of the inmates had only worsened after they were brought to the Nirbhaya home. Sources said that the girls who had tried to commit suicide, and who are still admitted in a hospital, insist on going back to their own homes. Two of these girls were repeatedly and violently abused by close family members. 

 

“This is shocking because the girls seem to prefer the painful insecurity of their own homes to the cramped ambience of the Nirbhaya home,” a source said. He then offers a caution. "This is not to say that the Nirbhaya experiment is a failure. It is just that we need to do more."

 

The psychology of an abuse victim is complicated. “Young victims could develop an affinity towards their violators, especially they are close family members, a Stockholm Syndrome of sorts,” said Dr George Varghese, a top psychiatrist. It is here that sound counseling will help. “We need someone to tell the girls that going back home, to those who abused them, will be harmful,” Dr Varghese said.

 

 A large group of experts and activists DC talked to recommended professional daily interactive counseling for these girls. But the state has to be generous. No qualified clinical psychologist has heeded the government’s call for a professional counselor simply because the government is prepared to pay only Rs 5000 for their services.  

 

“The coming together of fragile minds is disastrous. The latest suicide attempt was the culmination of an emotional distress caused by a trivial in-house fight,” a source said.