Kochi: The last words of a class X girl, who set herself on fire on January 14 in her house on the suburbs of Kochi, have shocked her relatives and neighbours. The 15-year-old went home early that day, before her mother and little sister reached home, locked herself in the bathroom, doused herself in kerosene and set her on fire.
The girl was a victim of sexual predators, poor economic background and a lack of support from school and the family. She revealed on her deathbed that she had been sexually abused by a lot of people, including a 43-year-old neighbour and underage boys who went to tuition with her.
She said she did not dare to tell the family of her ordeal because she was worried that her father's weak heart could not take the shock. Her mother, a domestic help, could not raise a finger against her tormentors, she thought.
“We rushed to the house hearing her cries,” her mother said. “I was not prepared for anything like that. She was aflame. All her dress had burned away. I tried to grab her but the others held me. She herself backed away when I tried to touch her.
“She cried out to us to pour water over her. We poured two buckets of water. Then she fell down. We immediately carried her to the hospital.”
Among rapists
The mother was shocked to hear that her daughter had been subjected to sexual harassment right from the fifth class. “Even if I told anyone, they would think that the fault lies with me. That's why I kept quiet,” the dying girl told her mother.
She had apparently told the school counsellor about the trauma. Her own teacher dumped her complaint in the dustbin. The mother thinks that the teachers and Childline workers are also to be blamed for her daughter's death.
The girl named a neighbour, who is active in the affairs of the school and church. He had been abusing the girl since she was 10 years old. He recorded her nude photos on his phone and blackmailed her often. He used to threaten her if she told anyone about what was going on, the girl said on her deathbed.
The mother said the girl told all about it to the police but she was not sure what all were recorded as her statement in the police records. The girl's family said they suspected that a few people were out to save the influential neighbour.
One of the persons arrested in the case is accused of molesting her. He had even gone to the school and barged into the principal's room, a relative said.
Another accused is a relative of the victim's close friend. The girl went to him to ask for protection from her tormentors but he turned out to be no less brutal.
The girl also spoke about three of the boys who went to the same tuition centre where she attended classes. They stripped her in a dark alley and groped her. The police have zeroed in on the boys but they were juveniles.
Foul play in investigation?
The victim's family points to anomalies in the first information report prepared by the police. One of the accused live in a hut yet the police have recorded that the girl was abused in his two-storeyed house. How could have the crime happened in a house that does not exist? Does someone want to deny justice to the girl?
The family and the people in the area also raise serious allegations against a teacher in the girl's school. The people in the neighbourhood have formed an action council to fight for the victim. Police have not responded to the allegations of foul play in investigation.
The council representatives called a press conference to accuse the teacher of abetting the girl's suicide. Worse, she knew that the girl was being abused. Yet she had no scruple in insulting the girl in the presence of her classmates. Even on the day of the girl's suicide, she was insulted by the teacher. In fact, that could have been a trigger, the relative said.
Elusive freedom
The girl desperately wanted to get out of the sight of her tormentors. She was on the verge of shifting to a new school and starting it all over again. She had bought new clothes and bag to go to the new school. She often told her parents that she would study well and support them.
The relatives said the girl's jovial attitude never betrayed the horrid experiences she went through. Yet, on the fateful day, she was insulted by her teacher, who could not digest the fact that the girl could raise money to pay the fees in the new school. The teacher taunted the girl and pulled her up for not asking for the teacher's permission before paying the fees. That was the last straw.
“We will go on with the fight. It is for her younger sister,” her mother said.
However, the teacher is yet to react to the allegations.
Read more: Latest Kerala news
