No one’s children

The two horrendous stories that have emerged recently about the murder of children by persons more powerful than their families leads immediately to a number of very disturbing questions about our state and society. Is there no one to protect these children? Are the laws which have been put on the statute books merely a cosmetic exercise? Are we as people not willing to speak up when we see a helpless child being brutalised? What has happened to our morality, our humanity and our willingness to follow the basic tenets of civilisation? On Thursday, a boy of 8 or 9 years, whose small herd of animals had accidentally strayed into the fields of a landowner in the Lora village in Abbottabad, was tied to a donkey by the landholder as punishment and the donkey then made to run. The small child died as a result of the injuries he sustained while being dragged along by the animal that was beaten with sticks to make it go faster. The landowner has denied the incident and said he had only rebuked the child for being careless with the animals he was herding. The child’s father has registered an FIR and witnesses in the area have testified that this terrible incident did indeed take place. The accused is currently being held on a two-day remand, and we wait to see if he receives the punishment he deserves under the law.

This is not the only case of child murder in recent days. During this week a 16-year-old boy hired as domestic help at the home of the daughter of PML-N MPA Shah Jehan died apparently after being beaten by his employer. The post-mortem report, notably released three days after the incident, shows 16 marks of torture on the boy’s legs and torso. Doctors say he died as a consequence of this severe physical abuse. The parents of the child say the victim and his younger sister, aged 11, were both badly mistreated and subjected to violence but they were unable to rescue them because of their own poverty and lack of influence when up against a family with strong connections. In both these cases inquiries have been ordered. But is that enough? There have been other similar incidents before this, and there will almost certainly be other ones in the future. The treatment of poor children unable to defend themselves can stop only if people across society speak out and insist the law of the land be implemented. The law states that every child deserves protection and the right to an education. No child deserves to be beaten or tortured to death. Our complicity in such crimes derives from our willingness to watch child workers toil in homes or other places all around us. Our entire social setup is in so many ways geared towards ensuring injustice to the poor. Until every child in our country is accepted as one of our own, we will hear other tales just as gruesome as the two which have surfaced recently.