KOZHIKODE: Publicity mania is crossing all limits. Be it at a funeral or hunger strike, the selfie crazy mobs show no respect for rights and feelings of others. The latest on to the victims’ list is 13-year-old Arya of Azhikode, Kannur. The cancer-stricken child suffering from a rare disease of blood oozing out of the body was under treatment for the last two years. Her hapless parents were unable to provide her with better treatment, and their plight caught the attention of the local media and online portals. It soon appeared in the mainstream media too. Financial help started pouring in.
Women and child development minister K.K, Shylaja foot her entire hospital bill, and she got shifted to a private hospital in Kochi on January 28. But the saddest part is that a good number of people visited her at home, and many of unabashedly clicked selfies with her. The selfies with a smiling publicity maniac along with a visibly distraught girl circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp grossly violating the rights of the girl and that of her parent.
“That’s pathetic. People should know what to do and what not. I want to make a fervent plea to all that please don’t circulate the same anymore,” requested Kannur Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairman Mathew T.A. Azhikode native Rabid says the local people had to intervene to stop the visitors after the selfie torturing broke all barriers. Kannur district child protection officer (DCPO) Anju Mohan underlines that the issue is a gross violation of child rights and must be addressed.
