Mumbai: A bone-chilling letter written by a 13-year-old Mumbai school student to her teacher has revealed her horrific ordeal about how she was sexually exploited by none other than her own father for six years and the deafening silence of her mother, who did nothing to stop this heinous crime.
According to a report published in a leading daily Mid-day, the shocking incident came to light after the victim, a class VII student, gave a letter to her teacher which read, “My father raped me and my mother is not helping.”
The teacher, who initially had no idea what the letter read, was visibly shaken after going through its content. Having realised that it was a desperate appeal for help from the poor girl, the teacher then sought assistance from a local NGO in Vashi.
The NGO later got a rape case registered against the girl's parents.
“My father raped me in front of my mother. After this, my mother would offer me some pills. He has been raping me since I was seven years old. Despite complaining to my mother, she refused to help me,” the teenage girl alleged in the letter.
The girl’s 45-year-old father is a fruit vendor who used to rape her since she was 7-year-old.
“Whenever my brothers weren’t at home, my father would take advantage of the opportunity and rape me inside my house, in front of my mother. I had complained to my mother several times, but she never helped me,” she had told the police.
The now 13-year-old girl told Vashi police that she had also informed her 17-year-old sister about the assault. The police, after primary investigation into the matter, said that the elder sister doesn’t stay with the family, and she too has been a victim of the father’s sexual assault.
Interestingly, the girl was able to muster courage after receiving a counselling session at school, a police officer from Vashi police station, said requesting anonymity.
Though the police questioned the girl's mother, but she had categorically denied the charges made by the girl against her father. Shockingly, the woman claimed that she came to know about the sexual assaults only a fortnight ago, after which she scolded her husband and asked him to stay away from the teenager.
With the local police beginning its probe into the case, the girl is now put up at a children’s home owned by the NGO.
A case has been registered against both the parents under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 5(L)(N) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Meanwhile, the father of the girl has now been arrested.
“ We have arrested the father, but are investigating as to what exact role her mother had to play. The survivor has told us that her mother has offered her some medicine. We will verify what medicines were given to her,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Shahaji Umap ( Navi Mumbai Zone I) was quoted as saying in the report.
Once these details are confirmed, we will arrest the mother too, the official said. The police officials investigating the case believe these medicines were contraceptive pills, which the mother offered to her daughter to avoid pregnancy.
