Farah still waits for justice
Although she was rescued on the same day as Prathyusha, there was no follow-up by the police
By : ayesha minhaz
Update: 2015-07-21 03:09 GMT
Hyderabad: “Itni thi (I was so small),” said 11-year-old Farah (name changed), squatting down to demonstrate how tall she was when she started working as a bai (maid). “I used to do household work like cleaning the floor, washing utensils and clothes etc. They gave me clothes and food, but still the lady used to beat me with sticks, inflict gashing wounds on my cheeks and neck and torture me almost every day,” recalls Farah, a bonded domestic child labourer who was rescued by the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR).
Farah has been working as a domestic labourer since she was very young. She doesn’t know who her parents are or from where she hails from. She was rescued from SBI Colony, Mehdipatnam on the same day as 19-year-old Prathyusha was rescued from her abusive parents. The girl was shifted to the Government Girls’ Home in Nimboliadda. While in Prathyusha’s case, the accused have been arrested, there has been no follow-up in Farah’s case apart from the initial notice by SCPCR.
However, on Id-ul-Fitr, Farah had visitors; the employer who had tortured her visited the Girls’ home. “They came and wanted to speak to me. I didn’t want to go back to that house, so I refused to meet them,” said Farah. Prameela, one of the employees at the home and in-charge of girls’ security, said, “We were told they had permission to visit. Thus we allowed them to speak to the girl, but the girl didn’t want to speak to them and we asked them to leave.”
When asked if someone from the Women and Child Welfare department or the labour department had done a follow-up, Ms Prameela responded in the negative. While the cops who participated in Farah’s rescue operation said that a case would be lodged by the labour department, no labour department official has visited her till now.
Varsha Bhargavi, a field worker from MV Foundation, said, “Accused individuals visiting the home to take the kids back is not something new. They get fake certificates about the child’s age and take the children out of the homes within a month of rescue. After one such rescue from Millennium Apartments in February 2013, the employers took the kids back. We are helpless.”
No visitors or help for Farah:
From the Chief Minister to Tollywood actors, political parties to NGOs, everyone has come forward to help 19-year-old Pratyusha. People are coming forward to fund her education, her treatment, and some are depositing money for her future use. “SBH (Baghlingampally branch) came forward to open an account for Prathyusha by approaching SCPCR. The amount (Rs 1.08 lakh till now) being donated is being transferred to it so that the girl can use it for her expenses in future,” said Achyuta Rao, member, SCPCR.
Meanwhile, it is being debated by stakeholders whether a rescue home is the right place for Prathyusha and various departments are fighting to chart out the best future plan. But unlike Pratyusha, the 11-year old rescued child labourer and scores of children like her hardly receive any attention from the authorities or elected representatives.
There are hundreds of children and adolescents, at the state run girls’ and boys’ rescue homes, which are mostly in the news for mismanagement and ill treatment. Activists, SCPCR and state women’s commission allege that VIPs and the people at the top usually indulge in such one-off acts and aren’t really bothered about changing the situation.
“Prathyusha is lucky that even the CM visited her and assured help. But what about the other kids? The condition at rescue homes is far from tolerable, but we are fed up with requesting the authorities,” complained Anuradha Rao, president of Balala Hakkula Sangham.
“Sending reminders and representations to make the homes a better place has fallen on deaf ears. As a final step, I have forwarded the recommendations to woman and child development minister Tummala Nageswara Rao and is awaiting an update,” said State Women’s Commission chairperson Tripurana Venkataratnam.