Ghaziabad: Stepfather Rapes Girl; Mom Tortures Her To Cover Up Crime

A shocking case has come to light which depicts the plight of girls in India. A 10-year-old girl living in Ghaziabad was being repeatedly raped by her stepfather as reported by India Today. Rather than saving her daughter, the mother tortured her to cover up the crime. Not only this, but the mother even wanted to push her daughter into prostitution when she grew older. The man had allegedly abused the girl's 13-year-old brother too. 

As per the reports, fed up with the torture, the girl left her home on January 20 to escape the crime. She was found roaming on the streets of Delhi and was handed over to the Delhi Police. The Delhi Police then sent her to the Child Welfare Committee where she was taken care of. 

The Incident Details

The girl underwent a medical examination which revealed that she was raped. She told the officials that her father died four years ago and she was living with her maternal grandparents. However, last year, her mother took her and her brother to her home in Ghaziabad. She was repeatedly raped by her stepfather who also abused her brother. The brother, however, left the house to escape the abuse. 

The girl further said that her mother had been involved in prostitution since her father's death and wanted her too to step into the market. 

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Loni) Bhaskar Sharma said that the girl identified the abuser as Raju, a resident of Delhi. Her mother hadn't even filed a missing complaint when the girl left the house. Sharma further added, "The child said her mother and Raju would torture her to cover up the crime and would threaten her using pliers to make sure she did not tell anybody about it."

A police case was registered initially by the Delhi Police in January. Then another case was registered at Loni Border Police Station on April 9. "The girl was so scared of Raju that she had initially said she had been raped by her stepfather," Sharma said. 

The mother and her male friend have been arrested according to an official at Loni Border police station in Ghaziabad.

The Plight Of Girl Child In India

The case sends shock waves and opens our eyes towards the plight of girls in our country. We live in a country where a girl's child is killed while she is still in the womb. If some of them make it to see the world, they are subjected to such horror that death seems better than life. A few days ago, a man killed his 18-month-old daughter because she was dark-skinned. Why are girls not valued in our society? Why are they subjected to injustice? Why can't girls have a life that is free of unjust practices? Because they have vaginas within which their entire identity is summed up. 

What Makes The Case More Alarming? 

The most shocking part of the case is the mother's apathy towards her daughter. Many sayings uphold the relationship between mothers and their children. It is said that a mother can never harm her child as she has protected the child for nine months and then brought it to the world after bearing the worst pain. Today, the perpetrator doesn't care about the relationship they share with the survivor. 

Recently, a case of a mother brutally murdering her son made headlines. The son had seen her with her female partner in a compromising position. So, the mother, along with her friend, murdered the child. Moreover, many cases of fathers raping their daughters have been registered. One case of a brother raping and strangulating his sister also shocked us in the past. 

Girls Are Not Safe In Their Own Homes

When a mother assaults her daughter, it leaves us in disbelief. A mother is a woman herself. She knows the problems women face and the pain that sexual crimes cause. How then can she torture her daughter and not let her oppose the crime? How could she push her own daughter into prostitution knowing the mistreatment women face in that set-up? 

A mother-daughter relationship has the power to change society as it involves sisterhood which is one of the strongest weapons against patriarchy. When women empathise with each other, share experiences and join hands to fight patriarchy, nothing can defeat them. A mother and a daughter share the same dynamics. 

When, dear mothers, are you going to realise your responsibility of raising a feminist daughter? When are you unlearning patriarchal conditioning and teaching values of resilience to your daughters? Until you realise your responsibility, don't give birth to daughters. Even if you do, let them be on their own rather than choking them to death by your patriarchal upbringing. 

Views expressed are the author's own.