TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: She said she was sexually by her father for two months. And now the police system continues to assault her. A week after her mother first went to the Bicholim police station to complain that her daughter’s father has sexually assaulted her little one, the police are still trying to “identify” who the officer was even as an inquiry has been ordered.
However in a blow to the mother and the organisation Bailancho Saad, fighting for the girl, the medical report indicates that there was no ‘rape’ in the strict legal sense, though it will be upto the investigation to prove “rape” under the new rape law
But the bigger battler is with society. However, sources close the victims family say that there is pressure on them as well as fear that society has already begun to look at them quizzically because of the stand the stand against her husband – a indicator of the standards by which the society functions.
The case is currently with the women police station, which has recorded the girl’s statement along with NGOs. She has narrated the entire ordeal and the apprehension that she is likely to undergo irreparable consequences psychologically is not ruled out.
“It is becoming a tedious task for the victim especially because she has to repeat the ordeal before various authorities during the course of investigation and trial. It is not good for a child to go through this over and over again,” Bailancho Saad Convenor Sabina Martins, who helped the victim approach women police station after a denial from the Bicholim police, said.
Even as the girl has dealt with the situation till now, the NGO intends to counsel her.
“She knows what has been done to her is wrong. She is speaking out but we will counsel her and monitor her closely so that she does not weaken in any manner,” she said.
More so, the source of livelihood for the family of three has been severed with the arrest of the alleged rapist father. To tide over the financial crisis, the mother is reportedly looking out for a job.
At the same time, Martins said, they were waiting for government support to help them economically under the Goa Victims’ Compensation Scheme.
