It has been nearly a week since Sindu*, a domestic worker, has been fighting with the Childline authorities over reports alleging that her 18-month-old infant was sexually abused by her husband.
After the Institute of Child Health, Egmore, did not confirm sexual abuse on examination, Sindu and her family now fear to go back to their home in Perumbakkam.
“We are looked upon as criminals there,” said Sindu, who lives in a one-room flat with her infant, a 4-year-old daughter and her second husband, a plumber. “We were living with my sister all this while. When we returned home on Friday night, we were escorted by the police. The local residents had earlier beaten us up. We fear things will only get worse now,” she said.
The reports of abuse surfaced after officials from Childline received a call from a Slum Clearance Board Community project officer on Tuesday stating that a Balwadi teacher had spotted the child with a swollen leg and struggling to walk. The team in Perumbakkam, run by an NGO Uravughal, reached the centre and began interrogation. However, the parents denied any abuse and claimed that the child had fallen from the cot, and the mother had applied turmeric on her leg to soothe the pain. “The officials were not ready to listen to us, they insisted that she had been abused by my husband,” she said.
The child was taken to the Egmore hospital after a doctor at the Primary Health Centre, raised the suspicion of sexual abuse. “For three days, my baby had to go through several painful tests. inally, the doctors too did not confirm sexual abuse,” she said, holding back her tears.
However, after the hospital report, the case was transferred from Chennai to the Kancheepuram Child Welfare Committee, which gave a clean chit to the couple. “The team should have ideally informed Kancheepuram district CWC and the police, as per protocol. But they didn’t. Childline needs to be more responsible while handling such cases,” said Zaheerudin Mohamed, member of CWC Kancheepuram district.
However, P. Manorama, Director of CHES, a collaboration partner of Childline India Foundation, on whose direction the team intervened, said: “There is no need for Childline to fabricate any case. We have enough evidence and have produced them to the CWC Chennai. In such a situation the mother must ideally cooperate and not evade enquiry.”
Sindu, on the other hand, has filed a complaint against the Childline officials with the Pallikaranai police.
(*name changed on request)
“For three days, my baby had to go through several painful tests”
