An alcoholic keeping off liquor, a sexually assaulted 11-year-old girl recuperating and progressing in her studies and a violent husband turning a family.
The lounge of BHAROSA — Support Center for Women and Children at HACA Bhavan in Hyderabad resounded with such heart-warming transformational stories on its first anniversary on Tuesday. “Initially I was scared of coming to BHAROSA as I was beaten up and abused at earlier de-addiction centres. But BHAROSA was different with its sensitive counsellors,” recalled a man, who was an alcoholic but quit liquor after counselling.
Promising that he would not go back to boozing again, he pointed out that the counsellors at BHAROSA wanted him to be honest and speak openly and that sincerity in words transformed him. There was no dearth of such success stories but there was still a long way to go, said speakers at the anniversary programme.
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“The staff should be alert and empathetic to the victims coming to the center for help,” said Additional Commissioner of Crimes Swati Lakra, under whose supervision BHAROSA helped hundreds of victims.
“We started receiving more complaints about domestic violence though initially the center was meant for helping women and child in sexual assault cases. Over 160 men, who were accused of being addicted to liquor and subjecting their family members to cruelty, were counselled by the staff of BHAROSA in past one year,” she said.
Seventy-two of them stopped consuming alcohol and emerged as ‘transformed men’ now. That was an indicator of the center’s achievement, she said. Ms. Lakra and Hyderabad Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy appreciated the role of other stakeholders like voluntary organisations and counsellors in supporting BHAROSA.
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“Everyone is a stakeholder in BHAROSA and the credit for its success goes to all,” said the Commissioner. He thanked National Thermal Power Corporation for coming forward to contribute generously to support the center.