As if the ordeal of a sexual assault was not enough, an eight-year-old girl who was brutally raped and dumped near the bushes in a playground nearly a month ago is now being ill-treated by the police and the hospital.
The girl, who was playing with her nine-year-old brother near their shop in Wadala on October 24, was lured by an unknown man in his 20s a little distance farther.
"Under the pretext of playing hide-and-seek, the accused accosted the girl in the bushes near the playground and raped her. The incident occurred close to 9 pm. Three hours later, she was seen walking bleeding on the nearby road at 1.30 am," said Niranjan Aher of NGO Jan Jagruti Manch.
While Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act mandates that a child injured in sexual assault should be admitted to the nearest hospital by the police at the earliest, in a gross case of negligence, the police kept the family and the victim waiting in the Wadala police station for three hours on October 25 as they registered an FIR.
Within a week of registering an FIR, under the Manodhairya Yojana of the state's women and child welfare department, the victim is entitled to a compensation of Rs 2-3 lakh.
The compensation is released in three installments after a copy of the FIR is sent by the police to the state. "It has been a month since the crime, but we have received no money. Moreover, we spent close to Rs 6,000 for advanced HIV and other medical tests at a private lab as Sion hospital does not have advance facilities," rued the girl's father.
Also, while she should be kept under police protection round the clock, no woman police constable was allotted by the police to look after the girl, he complained.
The girl was admitted to Sion hospital on October 25 and underwent multiple surgeries.
"My girl had bled immensely from the vagina and the anus after she was raped. A catheter had been fixed to pass urine and a hole in the stomach had been created for her to pass stool. Later, she was discharged on November 12. Shockingly, on the very night that we took her home, she developed high fever, threw up blisters on her skin and swelling in all limbs," the father said.
Doctors at Sion hospital said that she had developed an acute allergy to the medicines that were being used for her treatment. "The girl was on post-exposure prophylaxis medication. The oral medications have caused her a drug reaction. She is being treated by dermatology doctors for her condition," said Dr Nivedita Moulick, dean-in-charge, Sion hospital. Prophylaxis medicines are anti-HIV drugs that are administered to a victim of sexual assault from 28 days to ensure that she may not get infected with HIV.
The girl suffers immense pain, having sustained injuries to her private parts which was later exacerbated by a drug reaction that led to blisters on her body, including the inside of her mouth. "She has not been eating food since many days. She is on intravenous glucose fluids. Her mouth ulcers are being treated with great difficulty. The girl has lost a lot of weight. Moreover, she is under intense mental trauma," said a doctor from the ward.
The girl's family is exasperated as the hospital has admitted her in a general ward. "She is kept with other patients when she should be kept in isolation and provided privacy. Everyone stares at her and passes lewd comments," the girl's father said.
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