As soon as my semester exams concluded and I returned from Delhi, an old friend from school started calling me frequently. While Asma ( name changed ) had always been an ardent talker, there was certainly something wrong with her tone this time. One Saturday evening, while the weather was lashing down, she happened to call again. Though I took her call, there wasn’t much I could make out of her stuttering voice. It almost seemed as if she was struggling to speak out about a distressing situation. However, after a brief moment of our turbulent conversation, Asma took a deep breath and said in her frail voice, “He’s returning”, and hung up.   

Asma’s parents had always been overprotective with her upbringing. As a child, Asma could barely cherish the playground hues since the outside world had been suffused with ghost stories for her. This kept Asma’s friend circle very tight-knit and also precluded her from entering all sorts of other interactions. Keeping in view their demanding professions, Asma’s parents wanted to ensure a safe environment for her even when they were out of sight. As a result, Asma spent most of her childhood caring for extended family members. In fact, she was instructed to believe that family members were the people she could always bank upon. Meanwhile, to figure out what was exactly bugging her, I went to see Asma the next day. While nothing much had been replaced in their household except for the fact that Asma could now take care of herself in the absence of her parents, the barriers that averted her from exploring the outside world still remained intact. With time, Asma’s mother had fallen sick and could not balance between her job and the house chores. Even though Asma had always been a helping hand to her mother, the pressure from college had started to engross her mind, keeping her busy at all occasions. Only to exacerbate the situation,  Asma’s father was transferred to a different city, which would leave Asma and her mother all alone. 

I was seeing Asma in person after two years and, as soon as I saw her, I could glimpse the dejection pouring down from her shrinking eyes. “I tried to tell them not to bring him here but it didn’t work”, said Asma, squeezing her stomach. As soon as Asma’s father started to pack, the burglary incidents in their neighborhood started to swell. This frightened Asma’s father and he decided to invite one of Asma’s maternal cousins to live with them till he could find an alternative. Keeping in view the searing circumstances, someone from the family could’ve been instinctively trusted. However, the news of Majid ( name changed) shifting to their house agitated Asma inside out. Majid was the same guy who’d sexually abused Asma when she was a kid. Even though Asma could ascertain the mishandling by him only years later, she could still recall the perturbation she had faced as a kid. While the idea of trusting family members had been greatly inculcated in Asma, the idea of questioning and complaining about Majid would always give her anxiety. For Asma, Majid was her elder brother who supposedly cared for her. But again, for Asma, this affection always turned up at an unbelievable cost. 

Asma had been successful in evading Majid over these years but he had still managed to haunt her with the recollection of his brutal conduct. The person who maltreated Asma throughout her childhood was now going to show up again. He’d be around for long this time and indulge in her life minutely. Although the fear of getting touched by his mucky hands wasn’t a new feeling for Asma, it had still taken her a deal of time to settle down with her petrifying past encounters. “ Let’s tell your mother everything”, I said.  Asma would often infer unraveling Majid’s truth but would end up relinquishing the idea. “ No one is going to believe my words. They’ll ask for proof”, said Asma.  After a lot of convincing, we concurred on involving Asma’s aunt since she was closer to her. Although Majid was barred from coming over to Asma’s place, everyone else blamed Asma for slandering him and putting his image into jeopardy. This was followed by the bizarre suggestion of marrying off Asma and Majid. 

What happened with Asma might be beyond the belief of her family members, but the reality of it strikes every string in our minds to contemplate more. While Asma feels it’s natural to count on family members, she believes that it’s equally significant to recognize the fraud that might follow around. Having personally put with the menace, Asma asserts the potential child abuse carries to ravage the emotional expansion of children while layering a threat to their overall well-being. 

“The dearth of awareness about the bad touch in children is unfortunate. While parents are okay leaving their children with anyone they impulsively trust, they’re also against educating their children about the potential threats that come behind.”

Written by: Aiman Aijaz

About the Author

A pass out Sociology student from University Of Delhi. Inclined towards pursuing gender studies, she wishes to bring out camouflaged stories of violence from her homeland.